Renewed Faith
by Zel-2219
Summary: To forget a past. To look forward to the future. How does one achieve these goals? A true friend is the key, even if they don't fully understand why they care for you...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This will be the only time in this story I'll add this. I didn't want to put this in the summary (mainly because it wouldn't fit...), but this is the story I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2010... and I just remembered a little detail about this site I gotta fix...**

* * *

"Welcome one and all to the top of the luxurious Realgam Tower in the heart of the Orre Region!" an announcer shouted out. Ever since the crime syndicate known as Cipher was disbanded and the leader arrested, the tower was given to the newly founded Colosseum Committee. Now, it was used for the final stage of a near week-long tournament. "We've had many participants battle at the Pyrite and Phenac Colosseums for a chance to appear here, and we finally have those two trainers!"

Below the arena, right next to the elevator that would take him up to the arena stood a fifteen-year-old trainer named Ezekiel Webber. When he signed up for this tournament, he never imagined he'd be one of the two finalists to battle at this extremely luxurious arena. If anything, he was nervous, but he trusted his Pokemon. They got him this far, and they have a chance to take it all the way.

"Ok, you may now step into the elevators," an assistant announced to them. "Ezekiel Webber, you go up first." To Ezekiel's right was his opponent, a large, burly-looking man almost twice Ezekiel's size. To anyone else, he might've been too intimidating to battle, but Ezekiel wasn't even paying attention to him. He just wanted to get to the top and start the final battle.

The elevator doors slid open, and Ezekiel stepped in. The sheer height he had to travel upwards tormented him, as he has a small little fear of heights, but he was able to look out the glass windows and see almost all of the Orre Region. Phenac City to his left, Pyrite to his right, and behind him was the lush Agate Village and fierce Mt. Battle.

He unclipped two Poke Balls off his belt and held them in his hand. "You guys ready?" he asked them. He wanted to tell that to his Pokemon personally, but they had to remain in their Poke Balls. Only for a little longer, though.

As he neared the top, he could hear the cheers of the audience and the voice of the announcer. "Now, please welcome our first finalist, Ezekiel Webber!" The elevator opened its doors and Ezekiel stepped out into a beautiful, sky-high arena. He got many cheers from the audience, whom many of which were just shocked that someone so young managed to become a finalist.

"And now, please welcome our other finalist, Drake Harton!"

Ezekiel's opponent rose out of the ground and stepped from his elevator. He, too, received many cheers from everyone in the stands, but mainly from the Orre Region habitants because he himself was an Orre native.

"Hey, kid!" Drake shouted. His voice was relayed through the stadium speakers by the tiny microphone attached on his shirt, "Don't go crying to your mommy when I beat you!"

"Hey, don't think I'll be so easy to beat; I made it this far, haven't I?" Ezekiel shouted back, his voice also on the speakers from a microphone on his vest.

"There are sparks already flying in between the two opponents, so let's get this battle under way!" the announcer started. "The rules haven't changed at all; it's a two-on-two double battle with no substitutions. We will now flip a coin to see who has to send out their Pokemon first, giving the winner a type advantage if he chooses." A small camera attached to the announcer's headset flashed on, bringing the picture of a coin in his hand onto the mega-screen. He flicked the coin and shouted, "Call it in the air!"

Drake was the first to shout out, "Heads!"

"I've got tails, then." Ezekiel responded afterwards.

The coin flipped over and over on the screen before finally being caught by the announcer's hand. He then flipped it onto his palm and held it covered for a brief second before revealing, "Tails! Drake sends his Pokemon out first!"

Ezekiel didn't care that he won the coin toss; he knew exactly which two Pokemon he was going to be using. Both their Poke Balls were still in his hand.

"You got lucky this time, kid, but don't think you're winning!" Drake shouted again, snapping two of his own Poke Balls off his belt. "Meganium, Raichu, let's go!" He threw the Poke Balls up into the air. The first one snapped open, releasing a bright, white light. The light formed into a mainly green Pokemon with bright-pink petals adorned around its neck, Meganium. The other Poke Ball snapped open and released its light, forming into a tan-colored Pokemon with a long tail with a lightning bolt tip to it and lightning bolt ears, Raichu.

"So it's Meganium and Raichu for Drake! How will Ezekiel respond?" the announcer asked, keeping on top of the action, as is his job.

'Well, this should be interesting…' Ezekiel thought to himself. "Ok, Politoed, Marowak, take point!" he shouted as he threw his two already unclipped Poke Balls into the air. His Poke Balls snapped open and revealed his two Pokemon, a mainly green frog-like one with a tan belly, Politoed; and a light brown one with a skull for a head and holding a bone, Marowak.

"And Ezekiel responds with a Politoed and Marowak!" The entire crowd looked on in disbelief. The coin toss winner has a possible type advantage, so why did Ezekiel throw out Pokemon that were both weak to Grass types? "Will Ezekiel be able to win against a type disadvantage? Let's find out now! Begin!"

"Alright, Meganium, let's get this over with quickly. Razor Leaf!" Drake commanded. The Pokemon responded by sending out a flurry of leaves from around its neck.

"Marowak, counter it with Bonemerang, and Politoed, follow up with Bubblebeam!" Ezekiel responded. Marowak obeyed and threw his bone weapon to meet the leaves in mid-air. The pointed tip of the bone sliced through all the leaves easily and hit against the Meganium with considerable force, but being a Grass type, the Ground type attack didn't do much damage. However, due to Bonemerang's attack style, it circled around and blind-sided the Raichu, and being an Electric type, received major damage from the attack, but the assault wasn't over yet.

Politoed had followed up Marowak's attack with his Bubblebeam attack. The storm of bubbles rushed towards the Meganium and Raichu. Again, the Meganium didn't receive much damage due to type, but the Raichu took normal damage. Not commanding his Raichu to do anything wasn't good skill on Drake's side.

"Heh, you think that just because you were able to land a few hits means anything?" Drake said with a smug look. "Prepare yourself, now. Meganium, Sunny Day!" The Meganium's leaves started to glow white as solar energy was released into the sky. Sunny Day has many effects, and is mainly used for powering up Fire type moves, but it also halves all Water type moves. But, where Drake was going with using Sunny Day…

"Now, use Solarbeam!"

Sunny Day negates the need to charge up sunlight for a Solarbeam attack. The solar energy instantly charged in the Meganium, and the power was released in a second, traveling towards the two Pokemon who would take super-effective damage if hit.

Ezekiel, however, wasn't worried at all. "Marowak, get close to Politoed, and Politoed, use Protect!" Marowak jumped behind Politoed just as a green barrier surrounded both Pokemon. The Solarbeam impacted against the barrier, but just dispersed around it. "Now, Politoed, jump into the air, and Marowak, use Earthquake!" In battle, Ezekiel had always commanded both of his Pokemon at the same time. Rarely did he have any of his standing idle.

Following orders, the Politoed jumped high into the sky as the Marowak slammed his bone club against the ground, sending out a massive wave of tectonic energy.

"Raichu, try and avoid it!" Drake attempted to command, but the attack was moving too fast for him to react. When the energy slammed into the Raichu, it was sent flying through the sky. Both of his Pokemon were hit again by Ezekiel's attack. The Meganium again was able to withstand the attack, but the Raichu again took super-effective damage. When it landed, Ezekiel was expecting it to be out of commission, but to his amazement, the Pokemon stood up, still raring to go.

"I gotta say that's one tough Raichu you have there," Ezekiel complemented.

"If you like his defense, just wait until you see his offense! Raichu, Thunder! Fry that Politoed!" Finally given a command, the Raichu charged up its electricity into one of the strongest Electric type attacks there is, Thunder. The massive bolt of electricity flew toward Politoed, but he didn't make any attempt to dodge.

Ezekiel knew why he didn't move. "Marowak, hold your club high!" he shouted. The Marowak held the pointed tip of his weapon into the air. With the erratic movements of Thunder, and his LightningRod ability, its energy hit against the tip of the bone before it hit Politoed. The bone acted just like a lightning rod, diverting the electricity from the Raichu to him, and being a Ground type, completely unaffected by the attack.

"What! Gah, that's it! Meganium, Solarbeam again!" Drake called out in a rage. Sunny Day was still in effect, so the attack was able to charge instantly.

"Politoed, Protect, once more!" Ezekiel commanded. The green barrier again surrounded Politoed, again dispersing the attack over the shield. "Now, use Belly Drum!" After the shield disappeared, Politoed flipped down onto his back and beat a rhythmic beat on his belly. He felt his stamina drain, although he never got hit with an attack so far, so he still had plenty to keep going, but more so felt his physical strength skyrocket.

"Alright, Politoed, use Body Slam on Meganium!" With his physical power maxed, Politoed rushed towards the Meganium.

"Use Solarbeam once more!" Drake commanded, and Meganium obeyed. Another charged beam of solar energy was quickly produced due to Sunny Day still in effect. The beam of energy fired again at Politoed; however, Ezekiel didn't call for Politoed to use Protect again. Instead, he just left it up to Politoed's ability to dodge the attack and continue his.

Politoed viewed the attack coming at him and sidestepped it just at the last second. Unable to do anything, the Meganium was hit by the full force of Politoed's Body Slam. With the added effect of Belly Drum, the Meganium sustained much more damage than it has before in the battle.

"Ok, get back here, Politoed."

With both of his Pokemon having sustained massive damage while Ezekiel's haven't even been scratched, Drake was getting sent into a fury. "Raichu, Thunder, once more, and Meganium, Razor Leaf!" Both Pokemon obeyed and fired their attacks.

"Marowak, use Dig to evade, and Politoed, use Protect!" Ezekiel ordered. Marowak dug deep underground, letting the attacks pass harmlessly over him, while Politoed was once again protected by a green barrier. "Ok, Marowak, attack!"

"You're not hitting Raichu again with a Ground type attack again. Raichu, jump up!" Drake commanded. The Raichu did as told and jumped into the air, but no attack came from underneath him. That is exactly what Ezekiel planned.

"Go for it, Marowak!" Marowak launched up from underground, attacking the Meganium instead. It was sent flying into the sky, intercepting Raichu's jump and causing both Pokemon to slam to the ground. Marowak then rejoined his battle partner on their side of the field.

With the effects of Sunny Day almost over, Drake attempted to get one last ditch attack to try and win. "Meganium, Solarbeam!" The weakened Pokemon mustered up enough sunlight to form another attack, but it was near the edge of its power.

"Time to finish this. You ready, Politoed?" Ezekiel asked his Pokemon, who in turn nodded his head. "Alright, use Hyper Beam!" Politoed charged an immense energy inside him and released an orange beam to match the Meganium's Solarbeam. Both attacks collided in the center of the arena, kicking up dust and debris of the fabricated dirt arena.

Both teams were blinded from the other by these two attacks, and neither of them suspected the other's attack to still be going. Unfortunately for Drake, that's what happened. Politoed's Hyper Beam had enough energy to break Meganium's Solarbeam and still keep going. It hit against the Meganium with massive force, and the Raichu was hit by residual energy.

Politoed had dropped to his knees, drained from the effects of Hyper Beam; Marowak was in front of him, guarding him while he recovered, but it was ultimately unneeded. As the dust settled, both the Meganium and Raichu were out of commission. That final Hyper Beam knocked them over the edge of fainting.

"Meganium and Raichu are unable to battle!" the announcer shouted. "The winners are Politoed and Marowak, and the winner of the Colosseum Tournament is Ezekiel Webber! Congratulations!"

Ezekiel just stared for a minute before running over to his Pokemon. "Great job, guys! You were amazing!" Politoed had recovered and started clapping his hands in delight; Marowak just held his bone club on his shoulder, a satisfied look planted on his face. All he had left to do now was wait for the final ceremony to start.

Drake had already recalled his Pokemon to their Poke Balls. If anything, all his rage was replaced with amazement. Both of his Pokemon had a type advantage against one of his Pokemon, and he still lost. "How did you win when I had a definite type advantage?"

"Battling's more than just type advantages. Just fight to have fun. That's at least what I believe." Ezekiel responded. Politoed just continued clapping his hands together. He definitely had fun in this battle.

After a quick set-up of a stage, the director of the tournament stood next to the platform's microphone. "And now, may I present one of the most powerful trainers in the Orre Region, Eagun!"

An old man with a white beard and wearing a purple robe stepped up to the microphone. "I would like to congratulate both parties for an amazing battle, but there ultimately had to be one winner," he turned to Ezekiel. "Congratulations, Ezekiel. It is my honor to present you with your prize: this trophy and one-hundred thousand Poke!"

"Thank you, sir," Ezekiel said in response. He took the trophy with the prize money inside it from Eagun. 'Wow, what am I gonna do with all this money? My Pokemon deserve a little of it.' Ezekiel thought to himself. His Pokemon really did deserve it. After all, it was thanks to them that he made it this far.

"And that concludes our Colosseum Tournament! May all the participants and audience members have a safe trip back home," the director announced.

* * *

"Man, what a day…" Ezekiel had checked into the Pokemon Center at Agate Village. For being so close to a desert, the town was very lush and contained plenty of water. It wasn't as amazing as Phenac City, though. That town is completely in the middle of the desert, but they have plenty of water, too. Even their colosseum had copious amounts of it. Ezekiel even used that fact to his advantage when working up the ranks of the tournament.

But now, that whole tournament was over. It had taken nearly five days to complete, and hundreds of trainers… and he came out on top. "I definitely gotta treat my Pokemon tonight, but how?" He pondered exactly what to do, but couldn't think of anything that would represent just how much they've helped him.

"Maybe I should just ask them," he finally decided. He reached over to his belt and snapped all four of his Poke Balls. "C'mon out, everyone!" he shouted as he threw the four red and white spheres into the air. They all snapped open and revealed Ezekiel's entire party: Politoed, Marowak, Quilava, and Pidgeotto. The four Pokemon made themselves comfortable in the room of the Pokemon Center, not knowing that Ezekiel wanted to treat them somehow.

Since they were all comfortable, he decided to try and figure something out on his own again. This was the first time since all four of them had been out at the same time that day, and they all started to converse between themselves.

"Hey, Marc, who else did Ezekiel use in the final battle, because I sure know it wasn't me," the Pidgeotto asked, slightly irked. Each of the Pokemon had names, but names given to them by their parents, not Ezekiel. Ezekiel always just used their species name like many other trainers did.

"Hey, I don't control who he uses for his battles. I'm just his best bud and strongest one out of us; he knows that," the Politoed Marc-or rather, Marcus-replied. "It was Cail, by the way."

Cail, the Marowak, just slightly shifted at the mention of his name. He knew that Nick would come after him next. "He may have used me, but I barely did any work. Marcus did most of the work. Although, it was very satisfying sending that Meganium into the air," Cail remarked, mainly trying to mention who they were facing.

His plan worked, because it just infuriated Nick all the more. "He was battling a Grass type and didn't use me?" Nick always was jealous of Marcus and Cail. Ezekiel had always used them more than he did him. Heck-even Ven got more action, and he's a lazy bum half the time! "Out of all the battles he faced, I participated in two…"

"Yea, and you got knocked out each battle," Cail stated, laughing slightly afterwards. "If it wasn't for Marcus and Ven, Ezekiel never would've made it to the final round." Nick sent over an evil glare towards Cail. However, it really didn't have that much effect on him. Cail knew he could easily down Nick if he needed to.

"Ok, guys, let's calm down now," Marcus interrupted. He was always the one to calm down any situation before Ezekiel even knew about them. "We don't need to start anything, especially inside a Pokemon Center. You remember what happened last time, right?" Marcus was reminding Nick of the little episode he and Cail had a few years ago, when Cail was still a Cubone and Nick a Pidgey. Nick had gotten so mad at Cail that he started sending off Gust attacks left and right, making a huge mess in the lobby of a Pokemon Center in Vermillion City in the Kanto Region. Ezekiel was forced to clean up the mess before Nurse Joy allowed him to leave.

"Yea, yea… Don't remind me." Nick said begrudgingly.

"He just did," Cail remarked.

"Cail, I am going to murder you…" Nick started moving closer to Cail, who was gripping his bone club, ready to fight.

Fortunately, Marcus got in between the two before they could start anything. "We don't need another repeat of that! Get a grip, you guys."

Nick just huffed and flew to the other side of the room where Ezekiel was still pondering how to thank his Pokemon, oblivious to the fact that a fight almost broke out between two of them.

Still unable to think of any definite way to thank them, he just decided to ask them what they want to do. "Hey, guys? Could you all come here for a sec?" Ezekiel called out. His four Pokemon gathered near him, Nick staying far away from Cail. "I've been trying to think of a way to thank you four for all you've done throughout this tournament, but I can't think of anything. So I'm asking you: what do you want to do?" Ezekiel knew he couldn't understand any of his Pokemon, but they might give him some ideas through charades or something.

Nick started speaking his mind first. "I know I'd like to take Cail's club and sho-"

"Don't even go there, Nick," Marcus cut in.

"No, no. Let him finish, Marcus. I want to hear the rest of that sentence," Cail said next, gripping his club. "He might have the wrong idea on where this club's getting shoved."

"You wanna go, Cail?" Nick responded, ready to attack.

"Enough!" Marcus shouted out, causing everyone but too-laid-back-to-care Ven to jump in surprise. "It's clear what we need to do: get out of this room before you two start attacking each other." Marcus started walking towards the door of the room, opening it and pointing out. "Poli, Poli," is what Ezekiel heard.

"You guys wanna go outside? Sure. We aren't gonna be in the Orre Region much longer, so let's enjoy it while it lasts." Ezekiel fastened all of his Poke Balls back onto his belt and put it on again. He also threw on his trademark, a plain black vest he always wore when he went out. He left everyone out since that was the whole point of going out. "Well, c'mon. Let's go."

Everyone followed Ezekiel, save for Ven who needed a helping hand in leaving the room. He was incredibly lazy, but formidable in battle to be sure. Once he was out in the hall, Ezekiel locked the door to the room and followed behind his Pokemon. Nick and Cail were both still avoiding each other, and Ezekiel was still oblivious.

* * *

Agate Village was special on its own. The houses all had tree roots or trunks growing on them. One surprising thing about it is its relatively clean air even though there's a volcano just due east of the village. There's also a pillar rumored to be connected to Celebi, the protector of the forests. That was one thing Ezekiel had to see before he left the region.

"Everyone, I trust you to all behave yourselves. I'm going to look at that Celebi pillar, so don't do anything stupid or get yourself into trouble. We'll meet back here in a few hours. If you're here before everyone else, just wait for them. And try not to get into any fights." With that said, Ezekiel started to walk towards the cave that led to the Celebi pillar.

As he walked away from the Pokemon Center, he happened upon Eagun who was out for a walk. "Ah, Ezekiel, glad to see you again. It seems you're staying in Agate before leaving?"

"Oh, hello, Eagun." Ezekiel sure was surprised to see Eagun again. From what he heard at the tournament, Eagun was one accomplished trainer. "Yea, it seemed like a good idea at the time, mainly because I wanted to see that pillar attributed to Celebi," Ezekiel explained.

"Ah, the Relic of Agate. That stone pillar was a vital part of defeating that crime syndicate that almost overtook Orre. One of the kids who helped defeat that organization was also my granddaughter!"

"Your granddaughter?" Ezekiel spurted out in disbelief.

Eagun let out a hearty laugh at Ezekiel's response. "Yes, my granddaughter. She had the peculiar ability to see the tainted Pokemon the organization made. Come. I'll tell you more as we walk." Ezekiel gladly accepted Eagun's offer. He really wanted to know more about that whole fiasco. However, they hadn't taken but a few steps before Eagun turned back around. "I almost forgot something. I see you've already let you're Pokemon out, so I'll introduce them to my long-time companion." Eagun grabbed a Poke Ball out of his pocket and threw it into the air. The ball snapped open and revealed Eagun's Pokemon of choice, Pikachu. "Run along with Ezekiel's friends now, Pikachu. When you're done, just return home and Beluh will let you in."

Pikachu nodded his head, and Eagun started walking and talking with Ezekiel. Marcus was the first one to approach the Pikachu. "Hey, I'm Marcus." He had his hand extended to offer a handshake, which the Pikachu gladly returned.

"I'm Ian. Who're the rest of your friends?" Ian inquired.

"The Marowak is Cail, the Pidgeotto is Nick, and the Quilava is Ven," Marcus said as he introduced everyone. Cail gave a friendly nod towards Ian, Ven let out another yawn, and Nick just glared at Cail.

"Pleased to meet you all. It seems that your trainer has taken an interest in the Relic and all about it. Are any of you interested in it? I'd be willing to tell you anything you want to know about it." he offered.

"I'd take that offer, but I don't know about everyone else." Marcus said. He looked over and saw that Cail had already shook his head to decline, Nick had already started to fly into the trees, and Ven had already fallen asleep in the shade of a tree. "Nice hospitality, guys…"

"I don't mind. Come. I'll show you the Relic of Agate Village," Ian said as he started walking in the same direction as Eagun and Ezekiel did.

"That Celebi pillar that Ezekiel went to see, right?" Marcus asked as he followed

"Yea, that's the one. You really can't come to Agate and not see it. It helped that one kid and Eagun's granddaughter to defeat that crime syndicate here."

"Really? How?" Marcus again asked.

"The Relic has the powers of Celebi infused in it. That evil syndicate, Cipher, artificially closed Pokemon's hearts, turning them into pure fighting machines, Shadow Pokemon."

"Wow. That's insane."

"It gets even better," Ian started. "The trainer stole the Shadow Pokemon from any trainer holding one and by battling with them, slowly opened the door to its heart. The relic was the final key to unlock that door and purify the Pokemon." Ian started to shiver a little bit.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Those Pokemon were not natural… I had to fight one of them; its power was immense…"

"But the Relic has the ability to heal those Pokemon?"

"Yea, the power of Celebi inside the Relic helps the Pokemon recall its nature before it had its heart closed. It's insane, really. There's even a rare item that can call Celebi herself!"

"An item to call Celebi? That is insane."

"Well, here we are." Ian declared. They arrived at a large cave entrance that went under the entire village. It was a small cave, and on the other side was a small stone path with a stone pillar in the center. Eagun and Ezekiel were next to the pillar.

"Ah, Pikachu, I see you've gotten young Ezekiel's Politoed interested in the Relic, have you not?" Eagun asked his Pokemon.

"Pika, pika," Ian replied while nodding his head.

"So, Politoed, you know of all the stuff this Relic has done for this region?" Ezekiel asked to his Pokemon who also replied by nodding. "Unbelievable that someone would want to close a Pokemon's heart. It's even more amazing that the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh came to their aid!"

Marcus looked over towards Ian. "You didn't mention that a Legendary Pokemon appeared."

"Yea… It… slipped my mind…" he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it, Ian." Marcus gave Ian a little pat on the back.

"Well, thanks for the tour, Eagun." Ezekiel said as he offered a handshake to Eagun

"It was my pleasure," he said, returning the handshake. "Are you going to head back to the Pokemon Center now?"

"Yea, at least I am. If my Pokemon want to hang out some more, I'll let them."

"Very well. Pikachu, do you want to stay with Ezekiel's Pokemon for now, or return home?"

Ian looked over at Politoed. "I'm gonna go back home now. It's been nice meeting you, Marcus."

"Same here, Ian. Take care."

He nodded and ran over to Eagun. "Ok, let's go."

Marcus walked over to Ezekiel and stood by his side. Ezekiel was still marveling at the Relic before him. Marcus prodded the side of his leg to get his attention again. "Ok, Politoed, let's get back to the Pokemon Center. I gotta get a box for that trophy to mail it home, anyway."

The two friends walked back through the cave and towards the Pokemon Center. Ven was still asleep by the tree next to the center, while Cail and Nick were exchanging glances again. Those two were going to attack each other someday, but when is anyone's guess…

Actually, that when is now. "Listen, Cail, I'm stronger than you think." Nick said, burning with anger.

Cail just smirked at what Nick was saying. "Yea, you're so strong. That's why you get knocked out in every battle you're in," he stated.

"I could easily mop the floor with you!" Nick screamed out. Marcus wasn't close enough to defuse this situation, and it quickly spiraled into what Nick wanted most, a fight with Cail.

Without warning, Nick had flown high into the sky, only to drop back down with his full wingspan extended, ready to slam into Cail with his Wing Attack. Cail, however, didn't intend to get hit by any of Nick's attacks. He easily sidestepped Nick's attack, letting him pass and fly back into the air.

"Missed me," Cail taunted. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Shut up, Cail! I'm just getting started!" Nick yelled back, dive-bombing straight towards Cail. He pulled up just in time to place himself right in front of Cail and started to peck at him. Cail just easily blocked all of his attacks with his club. He knew Nick couldn't beat him and was just simply humoring him by fighting with him.

Much to Nick's dismay, the fight ended up like all other incursions he had with Cail. Marcus was quick to react the second he saw the two begin fighting, and since Nick was the main instigator, tackled and restrained him. "Calm down, Nick!"

Nick was thrashing around furiously to get free of Marcus, and he eventually did. "Stay out of this, Marcus!"

"You know I'm not gonna do that," Marcus replied. "You two need to stop this incessant fighting you two do. You're on a team and need to work like one."

"Gah, whatever…" Nick just flew up to a branch in one of the trees. 'I'll get you someday, Cail,' he said in his mind.

This was one of few times when Ezekiel had witnessed those two go at it. Normally Marcus was able to quell the two before anything started, but with him not in the area at the time, they were free to fight. "Hey, Politoed, what's with those two?" Ezekiel asked. As the trainer, he needed to know of anything wrong with his Pokemon.

In truth, even Marcus didn't know why Nick went after Cail so much. All he did to reply to Ezekiel's question was to shrug his shoulders. He honestly didn't have a full answer.

Ezekiel looked up to Nick, then down to Cail. Ever since that incident at Vermilion, he was wise never to use the two together in a double battle. He just never understood why they hated each other…

The day quickly turned to night and Ezekiel was back in their room. Although the plan was to treat his Pokemon to something special, it seemed that only Politoed got that reward. He'd still have to think of something to do for them all, but for now, it was time for sleep. Tomorrow they'd all head back to the Johto Region to continue their journey over there.

"Alright, everyone, time for bed," Ezekiel called out as he held each of his Pokemon's Poke Balls, two in each hand. "Ready?" Everyone nodded. "Return." A red beam of light shot from each Poke Ball, each one hitting each Pokemon and returning them into their Poke Balls. "Night, everyone," he said as he clipped them all on his belt and lay down on his bed. He got under the covers and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Ezekiel had to wake up early the next morning. The boat he had tickets for left pretty early. He didn't have much time before his bus to the Gateon Port where the boat docks left. Unfortunately, he got one crazy bus driver that, for some reason, decided to take the scenic route and almost drive off a cliff. He still got to the port with some time to spare, though… somehow…

It wasn't for another half-hour until the boat arrived; the ride itself lasted three hours. Once all that time had passed, though, he was finally able to see the Lighthouse of Olivine City. It's been almost a week since he last was here and was a bit behind in his Johto quest. For someone who won a Tournament, he only had two badges, the Zephyr Badge from Violet City and the Hive Badge from Azalea Town. His next destination was the Goldenrod Gym, but he first needed to drop off a package at the Pokemon Center.

As he walked into the center, he never expected what happened next. Apparently word of his victory in the Colosseum Tournament spread quickly, and everyone was waiting for Ezekiel to appear. Well, not everyone, but every news reporter and cameraman in the region was waiting. The second he stepped into the center, all hell broke loose.

"Look! It's Ezekiel!" one reporter shouted. "I've got the first interview!"

"Like hell you do!" another one yelled from across the room. "I'm interviewing him first!"

It wasn't long before a mass of news reporters started to rush towards Ezekiel, scaring the crap out of him. A voice in the back of his head was screaming at him, 'Run!' so he did. He dropped his package-it was the trophy he won neatly boxed up-next to the door of the Pokemon Center and ran like a Golbat out of hell.

The reporters were relentless, but Ezekiel was able to keep a good distance ahead of them. He kept trying to tell the mass to quit chasing him, but they seemed to care more about that interview than they did him. The only thing Ezekiel was hoping was that once he got outside of Olivine, the reporters would stop chasing him, but Olivine was huge. It was taking him a long time to find the exit.

At some point during the chaos, all the reporters had vanished from behind him. That didn't stop him from running, however. It was smart that he didn't stop; as he rounded a corner, all the reporters were there before him, waiting. He quickly stepped back around the corner, praying that they all didn't see him. Unfortunately… they did. "There he is! Out of my way!"

"You gotta be kidding me…" He doubled back and started running the way he came again. Those reporters were relentless, though, and he was quickly losing energy. "I gotta find some way to escape these news people…" He tried running through every dark alley and side street in Olivine, but those reporters just somehow knew where he was.

Fortunately, he got help from an unlikely source. "Hey, young man, over here. This way," a rather old woman called out to him. Wasting no time, Ezekiel followed the woman into a seemingly normal building. The woman closed the door behind him and watched as the mass of reporters ran down where they thought Ezekiel ran to.

Relieved that he was finally away from those reporters, he sat down on the nearest chair in the building. "Thanks for the help," he said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Don't mention it. Your name is Ezekiel, correct?" the woman asked.

"How do you know my name?"

"You're the one who won that tournament over in the Orre Region," the woman answered. He realized that, in hindsight, was a dumb question. There probably weren't many people who didn't know who won the Colosseum Tournament.

"Yea, I guess that's how everyone knows me now…"

"Don't worry about those reporters. They have no reason to search a little old shop like this."

"Yea, what is this place, who are you, and why did you help me?" Ezekiel asked.

"This is just my little novelty shop. I sell all sorts of different items that are brought to me. As for whom I am, I'm just a simple shop owner." She walked over to a small kettle and placed it on a stove. "And I couldn't let such a fine, young trainer get mauled by that unruly mob of reporters."

"Well, thanks… I guess."

"Oh, it's no problem. There's also something else I want to tell you. I've wanted to tell this to anyone, but no one would believe me," she started. "Have you ever heard of the Cipher organization?"

"Cipher? That syndicate that originated in the Orre Region? Yea, I know about it; a man named Eagun told me all about that stuff," Ezekiel replied.

"Ah, so you've met Eagun. Even he hasn't heard this news." She pulled up a chair for herself and sat down on it. "I think that the Cipher has returned."

Ezekiel took a second to comprehend what this woman just said. From all he's heard, that organization got beat pretty badly back in Orre. "How can you be sure?" he asked.

"I've seen it," she simply replied. "The dark aura of the Shadow Pokemon has returned on the horizon."

'The dark aura of the Shadow Pokemon..? That's right. Eagun said something about that back in Agate.' Ezekiel said in his mind. 'He said that his granddaughter had the ability to see the Shadow Pokemon. Does that mean this lady does too?'

"What are you thinking about?" the lady asked.

Ezekiel snapped out of his thoughts and back to the shop. "Nothing, sorry. Ok, so you say Cipher has returned. What exactly does this have to do with me?"

"Nothing, if you're lucky. I think that the Cipher are stealing and poaching Pokemon for their twisted experiments right here in Johto. I believe they're doing it in the other regions as well."

"…Sorry, but I just don't really believe that they're back," Ezekiel stated. "From all that Eagun told me, they really took a hit."

"While that's true, no one who gets beat stays down for long," she replied. "It's just like losing a Pokemon battle, is it not?" Ezekiel couldn't really argue with that logic… "Plus, this is just like the incident with Team Rocket. It took them only three years to recover. Who's to say Cipher couldn't do it in less?"

Again, she had a really good point. But if she told this to everyone she mentioned it to, how come they didn't believe her either? On that note, he really couldn't tell if he could believe her or not, but he knew the Cipher was a dangerous force. If what she said is, in fact, true, he'll have to keep a watchful eye out.

The high pitched sound of the kettle boiling gathered the attention of both Ezekiel and the woman. "Well, I've kept you long enough," she said as she stood up and moved to her kettle, pouring some out into a cup with a tea bag in it. "You may leave if you wish now."

"Yea, I've gotta get going," Ezekiel replied, standing up and moving for the door. "Thanks again for saving me from those reporters."

"It was no trouble at all. Good-bye, Ezekiel."

Ezekiel opened the door to the shop and walked out. The reporters were nowhere to be found, so he instantly started walking towards the exit to the city. The woman's words were on his mind the entire walk there, though. 'Cipher has returned? I just can't really believe that…' As he pondered on his thoughts, he made a bit of a mistake and met up with some old friends…

"There he is! Don't let him get away this time!"

"What? Aww… Crap!" Ezekiel ended up walking right back onto the main roads and ran right into his reporter buddies, and they still wanted an interview. "Leave me alone! I don't want to be interviewed!" The reporters didn't listen to him, though. All he could do was run like hell.

He ended up in a maze of alleyways and streets. Hoping to finally ditch the reporters, he zigged and zagged through every alley he could. The reporters decided to each go their separate ways through the maze, making it all the harder for Ezekiel to escape. It seemed like every corner he now turned, a reporter was right there, waiting.

It now seemed like it was entirely hopeless to escape the reporters. He decided to just face the music and get it over with, but before he could reveal himself to anyone, a hand tapped on his shoulder. He jumped in surprised and spun around to see a lone woman holding a simple notebook. "Hello there, I'm an independent journalist. Could I have just a minute of your time?"

Ezekiel knew it was hopeless to escape, so he might as well get this one of many over. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"

"Don't worry. I'm not like those other reporters. I just want to ask a few questions, mainly what it felt like to win that huge competition."

"Well… I guess I was just happy that my Pokemon were able to accomplish all of that," Ezekiel answered. "I still need to think of a way to thank them for it."

"That's nice of you." She wrote some quick notes in her notebook. "Next, what were you initially thinking using your Politoed against both a Meganium and Raichu?"

"Politoed has always been my best buddy and strongest Pokemon. I had him and my Marowak ready even before I stepped out of that elevator. Those two make a great team."

"I see." She put down some more notes. Ezekiel really felt more at ease with this journalist. There weren't any cameras shoved in his face, or reporters with microphones wanting to get him on tape. She just wrote down quick quotes and notes in her notebook. "Just one last question: where are you headed now?"

"Goldenrod. I only have two of the Johto gym badges. The tournament just seemed like a fun thing to try; I never actually expected to win it, to be honest."

"Really?" She wrote down some more notes. "Well, I think I have enough here. That's all I need from you. Thank you for your time."

"Yea… Any chance you could help me get away from every other reporter?"

"I suppose I could. Wait here." The journalist rounded the corner and a few seconds later, Ezekiel heard her shout, "Hey, he's back on the main streets!" After that, he heard the clamor of the remaining reporters running and shouting. Another second later and the journalist returned. "There you go. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks, and, y'know, it actually wasn't that bad getting interviewed," Ezekiel commented.

"It's always important to keep the one being interviewed at ease. Those other reporters don't know that. Not everyone likes a camera shoved in their face. Well, take care." The journalist started walking back to the main street herself.

'Well, let's hope that the rest of them are gone…' Ezekiel thought. He slowly made his way to the main street and saw neither microphone nor camera of a reporter. He was again in the clear and intended to keep it that way. He took the long way around to the exit of Olivine, and he was finally able to leave the town and get on with his journey.

* * *

Finally back on the routes, Ezekiel took the time he had to rest. "Man, some of those reporters were crazy! I really hope it's not like that in every town…" he said, groaning a little. That was just Olivine. Would every other town he made it to have the same mob? He reached down to his belt and plucked off Marcus' Poke Ball.

He activated it and opened it up, letting Marcus out. He instantly noticed where he was and that Ezekiel was also winded. "Poli? Politoed?"

"You will not believe what just happened, Politoed," Ezekiel started, still breathing heavily. "Remember one thing: most news reporters are not your friends." Marcus started to laugh a bit at what Ezekiel said. He could tell he got chased around by the reporters, and that just seemed very comical to him. "Hey, next time a bunch of reporters come after us, you can do the running and see how funny it is, smart-aleck."

The two shared a laugh for a minute before Ezekiel got back on his feet. "Alright, we've got a ways to go if we want to get to at least Ecruteak. Do ya wanna stay out with me or go back into your Poke Ball?" Ezekiel asked.

"Politoed, politoed," is what Ezekiel heard as Marcus responded, but the motions he made signaled he wanted to stay out.

"Alright, let's get going," Ezekiel responded as he clipped Marcus' Poke Ball back on his belt. The two friends started up the road towards Ecruteak, and ultimately, Goldenrod.

* * *

Just up the road from Olivine stood the MooMoo Milk Farm, a place popular for its famous MooMoo Milk. Ezekiel had stopped by the farm when he first headed for the Orre Region, but was unable to get any milk due to their Miltank being slightly ill. Whatever milk they had had been ungodly priced because of that. Thinking now, he hoped that the week's time since he was last there was suffice enough for the Miltank to have healed. Some MooMoo Milk would be an excellent treat for his Pokemon.

"Hey, Politoed, we're gonna stop by that farm up ahead to see if we can get some milk there. I've wanted a way to thank all you guys, and hopefully they'll have some milk for sale."

Marcus' eyes lit up slightly. He's heard about this milk and that it was very sweet, especially when made into ice cream. However, he'd be content with it in its liquid form. Maybe a bit of the milk would calm down the animosity between Cail and Nick, too.

Upon first sight of the farm, the two saw the entire herd of Miltank out in the fields of the farm. They all looked as happy and healthy as can be, which hopefully meant they also had milk. Ezekiel saw the man who ran the farm on the porch of his house, sleeping with a straw hat over his head.

"Hey there. Remember me?" Ezekiel said as he approached the sleeping owner.

"Huh? Wazzat? Who's there?" the owner stuttered out as he woke up from his nap. He removed the hat from over his eyes and quickly recognized Ezekiel. "Oh, hey, you were here last week, weren't you?"

"Yea, that was me. Are your Miltank feeling any better?" Ezekiel asked.

"Oh, yea. They've definitely improved. All they needed was a bit of rest and berries. You wanna buy some? It's fifty a bottle."

"Jeez… It's still really pricey milk, but it's a treat for my Pokemon, so money's not a concern right now," Ezekiel commented. He seemed to have already forgotten that he won a hundred-thousand Poke reward at the tournament, so money wouldn't be a concern for a long time. He had a majority of the cash put onto his Trainer's Card account, but he still kept a bit of it in cash form. He pulled out his wallet and got four-hundred out. "I'll take eight bottles."

"Eight? Coming right up." The owner went inside his house and returned with a case holding the eight bottles of milk. Ezekiel handed him the money and received the case of milk.

"Hey, you mind if I let the rest of my Pokemon out here?" Ezekiel asked.

"Suppose so. Shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just keep them under control. We don't need them starting a stampede," the owner warned.

"Don't worry. Politoed seems to keep the rest of my Pokemon in line." He unclipped the rest of his Poke Balls from his belt. "Alright, everyone, c'mon out," he said as he threw the three Poke Balls into the air. The entire party was again released at the same time, and as expected, Cail and Nick looked like they wanted to attack each other again the moment they met eyes. However, Ezekiel got their attention with the bottles of milk he was holding. "Hey, for doing such a great job at the tournament, I thought I'd give you all a little reward. I wanted to do this sooner, but couldn't really think of anything."

Each Pokemon nodded their head in agreement. Unfortunately, Cail had to piss Nick off one last time. "Hey, why does Nick get something? He barely did anything at the tournament."It was just like back in Agate… Nick and Cail were getting ready for a fight, but this time, Cail was the main instigator.

"Cail… Have you ever wondered how hard a bottle of milk is?" Nick responded.

"Tch. Good luck trying that. I'm sure my head can take any hit you could give out," he responded. "Plus, how could you even lift the bottle? You're too weak to do anything."

Nick started to respond, but was abruptly cut off. "Will you both just shut up!" Marcus shouted out, just going berserk. It was impossible for him to get those two to get along. Even when Ezekiel offered a little treat, one of them had to go and start something. "I am so sick of you two always fighting! What is your guys' problem?"

Everyone there just stared at Marcus, extremely surprised at his outburst. Even Ven took notice to his rage. They all knew Marcus rarely ever let anything get to him this badly, but those two have been fighting for a long time now. The frustration of them still fighting after breaking up so many fights must've finally gotten to Marcus.

Ezekiel got down next to him. "Hey, Politoed, you feeling alright?" Marcus was close to attacking Cail and Nick himself, but he was able to calm himself down before anything got started.

He just sighed and sat down, shaking his head. "Sorry, guys. It's just I've been trying to get you two to stop fighting for so long now, but all you do is still fight. Can't you guys just once get along?"

Both Cail and Nick looked at each other. They never realized just how much fighting they actually did. Seeing Marcus-of all people, Marcus-snap like that just caused something to change in the two.

"Sorry, Marcus. I guess neither of us knew exactly how bad our fighting was getting," Cail said.

"Yea, I guess fighting each other won't help us in any way," Nick said directly after. It wasn't going to be instantaneous, but they'd learn to get along.

With everyone calmed down again, they all motioned to Ezekiel that they all were settled down now. He just stared with a bit of a confused look. "Ok… Well, I don't really know what just happened, but I think you guys are ready for the drinks now, right?" he asked. Every Pokemon nodded their head in agreement, and Ezekiel handed each of them a glass bottle containing the drink. With the whole fighting fiasco done with, everyone was able to focus on wondering if all they've heard about the famous MooMoo Milk was true, and there was only one way to find out.

"Drink up, everyone!" Ezekiel shouted, but a little too late. Each Pokemon already had the lids off and chugging down their drinks, all except for hand-less Nick who needed his poured into a dish. Surprisingly, the owner already had one for Nick and even poured it out for him.

Everyone was marveling at the deliciousness of the milk. It was definitely a suitable reward in their mind. Whatever money Ezekiel spent on the milk, it was definitely worth it. Ven took a few sips of his milk and promptly fell asleep on the ground. Cail and Nick both enjoyed their drinks in relative peace now that they didn't want to murder each other anymore. Meanwhile, Marcus just sat next to Ezekiel.

After everyone finished their share of milk off-save for Ven-Ezekiel returned them all to their Poke Balls but still left Marcus out. He then grabbed Ven's unfinished drink and marked it with the marker in his backpack. After everything was settled again, he slung his pack over his shoulders and was ready to leave.

"So, where you all heading for now?" the owner asked.

"Goldenrod. We're going for our third gym badge," Ezekiel responded.

"Goldenrod, eh? Whitney may complain a lot, but she's a gym leader nonetheless. You should do fine, though. Take care." He waved the trainer and Pokemon farewell as they returned the wave.

"Thanks for the advice and the milk," Ezekiel replied, and the two once again started for Ecruteak, then Goldenrod.

* * *

The first time they passed down this route, Ezekiel and Marcus were met with much opposition. This time, however, there wasn't a soul to be found, trainer or Pokemon. It was eerily quiet as the two walked down the road.

"Hey, Politoed, where do you think everyone is?" Ezekiel asked Marcus, trying to cut through the quiet.

"Poli politoed, politoed," Marcus replied. If Ezekiel could understand him, he would've heard, "I'm not sure, Ezekiel."

"This just doesn't seem right. There's not even a wild Pokemon around. We saw plenty of Meowth and Raticate our first time passing through here, but now there's nothing!" The quiet was getting to Ezekiel a little too much; he never liked having nothing happen for long periods of time, yet another one of his phobias.

Marcus tried to get him to calm down, but all his words were just heard as the monotonic, "Poli." All he really could do was just walk and wait for Ecruteak to come into view.

It took a few silent minutes, but the two were finally able to see the top of the Bell Tower in Ecruteak. They weren't too far off now. "Finally!" Ezekiel exclaimed. "Let's get moving, Politoed. I don't want to wait any longer." Ezekiel started running down the path; Marcus was forced to also move into a sprint to catch up to him. They were only a mile away now.

Just as Marcus caught up to Ezekiel, an audible thud was heard by the two. Both stopped momentarily to exchange questioning looks. The sound had come from a clearing just behind some trees on the side of the road. The two slowly poked their heads out from around the trees to see two Pokemon in the tall grass. Both of them were canine, one was almost purely black and gray, a Pokemon from Hoenn Ezekiel saw once at the tournament, a Mightyena; the other one was more familiar, a Johto native. It was also mainly black, but with a burnt orange muzzle and large gray horns, a Houndoom.

From Ezekiel's view, he figured they were fighting each other and should be left alone. "They look like they're fighting each other. Hey, Politoed, let's just leave these two be," Ezekiel whispered.

Marcus heard, but something wasn't sitting right with him. If the two were fighting, shouldn't they be attacking each other right now? They were facing each other, but neither was looking at the other. They were more focused on the ground… 'What is on the ground that has their attention?' Marcus asked in his mind. He saw one of them bend down; its maw open like it was ready to bite something. That's when Marcus saw something that forced him into action.

He jumped from behind the tree and charged up the best way he thought to disable the two instantly, his Hyper Beam. The orange beam of energy hit the Houndoom, the one who was biting at something, square on the side, sending it through the air. Its partner immediately turned to see Marcus down on one knee. He needed to rest after using Hyper Beam, leaving him open to any attack this Pokemon had.

"Politoed! What are you doing!" Ezekiel screamed. He apparently didn't see what Marcus saw. Instead, all he saw was the Mightyena approaching Marcus. Acting quickly, he snapped off one of his other Poke Balls and sent it into the sky. "Marowak, get out here!"

Cail emerged from his Poke Ball to the sight of Marcus on the ground and an unknown Pokemon fast approaching him. Without even a command from Ezekiel, he instantly ran in front of Marcus, guarding him from the Dark type.

Viewing the new opposition, the Mightyena only let out a roar. It wasn't afraid of either of these Pokemon. It charged up a dark sphere of energy, Shadow Ball, and fired it off at Cail.

Again without waiting for orders, Cail used his club to bat away the attack, letting it harmlessly explode a few yards away. Marcus had now regained enough energy to stand up, making the fight two-on-one. Those odds didn't last long, though; the Houndoom was instantly back with his partner as fast as Marcus was with his.

Ezekiel was standing back on the side of the road, just watching as his Pokemon battled these other two. He still didn't know why Marcus acted the way he did.

Even Cail was wondering why he needed to defend Marcus. "You mind filling me in on why we're attacking these two? I don't see another trainer around," Cail asked.

"There's no time to explain! Just keep them occupied!" Marcus snapped back. Something had upset him, but what exactly neither Cail nor Ezekiel knew.

The Houndoom attacked next, using its fire attribute to form a powerful Flamethrower. Marcus easily met the attack with a Water Gun of his own, dissipating the fire instantly. Angered, the Houndoom focused on its darkness instead, forming a Shadow Ball attack of his own. The Mightyena joined in by using Shadow Ball, too.

Cail countered by throwing his club in his Bonemerang attack, destroying both Shadow Ball attacks in succession. Marcus decided another Hyper Beam was in order and started charging the energy up again.

However, both canine Pokemon perked their ears up and slowly backed away before turning and sprinting back into the tree line on the other side of the clearing. Marcus cut his attack, not wasting his energy on the fleeing Pokemon, but instead wondering why they fled. He didn't ponder the thought for too long, though. There was still something he needed to check, the whole reason he attacked those two in the first place.

He ran over to where the two Pokemon initially were and discovered what they almost bit had he not attacked. Lying there, covered by the tall grass, was a small orange and cream colored Pokemon. Its body was covered in cuts, bruises, dirt… and blood. He couldn't tell if it was still alive or not, but he needed to get it help instantly.

"Politoed! Poli, politoed!" he cried out, desperately trying to get Ezekiel's attention. He was busy returning Cail to his Poke Ball, but after that noticed Marcus flailing his arms through the air.

"Politoed, what's gotten into you?" he asked as he walked over to Marcus. Once he got within a few yards of him, though, he saw exactly what got him so riled up. "Oh, god." Ezekiel ran over to the fallen Pokemon, and knelt down next to it. He didn't really have any medical expertise but still knew how to check for a pulse. He placed his hand above this yellow collar on the Pokemon's neck, trying to feel for a heartbeat. What he got was something completely unexpected, however.

The Pokemon jumped awake at the feel of something touching its neck. Following instinct, it immediately bit down on what was touching it, Ezekiel's hand.

Ezekiel managed to get a yell out in pain as he jerked his hand back. With how weak the Pokemon was, it wasn't able to keep a grip on Ezekiel's hand. It tried its best to stand and run, but its body was too weak to do anything but stand.

Ezekiel was holding onto his now bleeding hand, wondering just exactly what this Pokemon was and why it bit him. He never saw a Pokemon like this at neither the tournament nor anywhere else. He rummaged around his backpack's pockets for his PokeDex and proceeded to scan the Pokemon in front of him.

After a second, an automated voice sounded, "_No data entry found._"

His PokeDex didn't have the Pokemon on file… 'This might be from that Sinnoh Region,' he thought. When the upgrade was presented to trainers, Ezekiel opted to not get it. He didn't want to wait in the line that formed for the upgrade. After that, he just never got around to updating his PokeDex.

Marcus, meanwhile, was trying to calm the injured Pokemon down. There was a large wound along its right side that was now bleeding out again. "Listen, you need to lie down. You're bleeding out badly."

"Get away from me…" the Pokemon growled out. Its voice was extremely hoarse; Marcus could barely make any of its words out. "Leave me alone." After saying that, it coughed up a small amount of blood.

"I'm not going to leave you; you're too seriously injured! Let us help you!" Marcus tried his best to reason with this Pokemon, but it was adamant on not letting anyone help.

Ezekiel's hand had almost fully stopped bleeding now; the bite he received wasn't too deep. He turned over to the injured Pokemon and Marcus. After seeing Marcus talking with the Pokemon-and subsequently failing-he decided to help no matter what. "We've gotta get this Pokemon to a Pokemon Center. I think I have a spare Poke Ball we can transport it in." He rummaged through his bag again and pulled out another red and white sphere, one void of any occupant.

As his hand again approached the Pokemon, it reacted violently again, this time biting against Ezekiel's arm instead of his hand. It was able to get a much better grip on him this time, and refused to let go. Blood was slowly leaking out from between the Pokemon's fangs. It tasted Ezekiel's blood in its mouth. That coupled with its own blood made it cringe at the unpleasant taste.

Ezekiel wanted to get the Pokemon off his arm, but he didn't want to hurt it any further, either. "Please, let go. I'm only trying to help." As best he tried, the Pokemon was relentless. However, all the activity it was doing only helped in draining more blood from its body. It started to drift in and out of consciousness and eventually did black out.

Seeing the Pokemon fall unconscious, Marcus held onto the Pokemon to keep it off the ground. "Hey, are you alright? Wake up!" he shouted to no avail. The Pokemon was still dripping blood. It was running out of time.

Ezekiel, meanwhile, surveyed the new damage to his arm after he was released from the Pokemon's grip. There were many punctures along his arm, each bleeding out, but it was all just minor. This Pokemon was still the top priority.

With the Pokemon's life fading fast, Marcus tried to get Ezekiel's attention to the Pokemon. "Ezekiel, we need to get this Pokemon help!" he yelled out. Ezekiel heard, but not what he said. He did, however, understand what Marcus was saying.

He activated the Poke Ball and tapped the unconscious Pokemon with it, but instead of it getting drawn into it, the Poke Ball snapped shut, shrunk, and the center dot started blinking red. "Ok… that's new…" Ezekiel commented. That's never happened to him before nor did he know why. He set the Poke Ball aside and tried to devise another way to get this Pokemon help. He looked over his shoulder to see the top of the Bell Tower. They weren't that far from Ecruteak; the Pokemon Center there can handle this Pokemon.

He got one of his spare shirts out of his pack and wrapped the unconscious Pokemon in it. Its two pronged tail that was also covered in cuts and blood dangled beneath it as Ezekiel lifted the Pokemon up. He wrapped as much of the Pokemon as he could in his spare shirt. "C'mon, Politoed. We gotta get to the Pokemon Center in Ecruteak."

The two rushed as fast as they could to the Pokemon Center; the life of the Pokemon in Ezekiel's arms was fading as more blood was lost. There was no time to waste.


	3. Chapter 3

At the rate they were running, they covered the mile distance to Ecruteak in ten minutes. Ezekiel's spare shirt he used to wrap the injured Pokemon in was already soaked through with blood. He could still feel the Pokemon's chest expand and contract, meaning that it was still breathing, but how much longer would it be able to hold on?

Marcus was worrying himself more than he ever has before. There was something about this Pokemon that he just felt inclined to do everything he could to save it. But right now, all he could do was hope. Hope that this Pokemon doesn't bleed out.

The second they passed through the gates to Ecruteak, something became apparent. When you're carrying a blood covered Pokemon, people seem to notice. As he ran past people, a majority of them instantly stepped clear of them. Some of them looked completely shocked at the Pokemon's condition while others had a questioning look on their face. Ezekiel even heard one person accuse him of being a neglectful trainer. They didn't even know what exactly happened, that he saved this Pokemon, not injured it.

He quickly dismissed any comments he heard. All he needed to do was get to the Pokemon Center. Both he and Marcus could only hope that they weren't backed up. The Pokemon Center was located in the middle of Ecruteak. There were many other trainers located all around the outside, interacting with their Pokemon. However, the second Ezekiel arrived on scene each and every one of them-trainer and Pokemon alike-stopped what they were doing to see the critical condition of this orange Pokemon in this trainer's arms. A few of them even pulled out their PokeGear for some reason. Ezekiel had no time to pay attention to what they were doing, either. The lobby of the center was clear of anyone, exactly what Ezekiel and Marcus was hoping for.

The automatic doors cleared the way for Ezekiel and Marcus. Nurse Joy was behind the main desk, working on her computer. She looked up to greet them, thinking they were just trainer and Pokemon needing a quick heal. The second she saw he was carrying a blood covered Pokemon, though, she gasped in horror. "Oh my goodness, what happened to that Pokemon?" She sprang up from her seat, rushing around to check on the Pokemon.

"Let's not worry about that now! Can you help it?"

"Come here, quickly!" She reached over the desk and tapped a button underneath it, summoning two Chansey along with a medical bed. "Put it on this bed and do not leave this building," she ordered, putting much emphasis on the word 'not.' Ezekiel could completely understand why. He'd be blamed for this until he told what exactly happened.

Ezekiel set the Pokemon on the crisp, white bed. The second he did, it started to get stained red. The two Chansey then wheeled the Pokemon to the center's intensive care unit. Marcus felt compelled to follow. He just had to know exactly what was happening to the Pokemon. However, as he tried to follow behind them, one of the Chansey stopped him. "I'm afraid you will have to wait out here."

Staying away from that Pokemon was the last thing on Marcus' mind. "Please let me through! I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"Unfortunately, that's all you can do," the Chansey said. "You won't be able to help us in any way, so just stay here and don't follow us."

"But…"

"No. Now enough. Go wait by your trainer, and don't leave this building." The Chansey walked through the door and into joined Nurse Joy and the other Chansey. As the door closed and locked behind them, Marcus just felt completely useless. He just wanted there to be some way he could also help that Pokemon.

"Hey, Politoed, are you feeling alright?" Ezekiel asked. Marcus just looked up at his friend. The look on his face told Ezekiel more than enough. "Do you really worry that much about that Pokemon? Why?"

That question of why never crossed Marcus' mind before. Why did he worry so much about this Pokemon? It wasn't even a Pokemon he was familiar with. Why isn't it like any other Pokemon, then? He couldn't come up with an answer to that question. He just shook his head towards Ezekiel. He really didn't know what to think now. All he could do was just sit… sit and hope this Pokemon lives.

Ezekiel patted Marcus' back and walked back to the lobby. He spotted a simple first-aid kit on the wall and detached it. There were a few wounds of his own he needed to bandage at least. The kit held a roll of gauze tape and an anti-bacterial salve which he applied and then wrapped his arm and hand where the Pokemon bit him.

While he's tending to his arm, a curious crowd gathered just outside the Pokemon Center. Apparently, word of the Pokemon had spread quickly around Ecruteak. Ezekiel was just hoping that they didn't start making assumptions, but with how they were whispering amongst themselves, that's all he could believe. He wanted to tell them all what happened, but he was told to not leave the building, even for an instant. Just like Marcus, all he could do was sit and wait for Nurse Joy to return.

While Ezekiel was at the couch in the lobby, Marcus just sat at the door to the medical rooms. Somewhere behind them laid the injured Pokemon. It just tore him up inside not being able to see exactly how it was doing. His mind drifted back to the field where he first saw the Pokemon. What would've happened if he never saw that little orange lump on the ground? It most certainly would've been killed right in front of him. For some reason, the simple thought of that sent an ear-splitting headache through his head.

Still thinking back to the field, why did it respond so aggressively towards them? Also, why were those two canine Pokemon after it in the first place? And why did they turn and run when they still had plenty of energy left to fight? All these questions haunted Marcus for every second he sat at those doors. They had only just brought the Pokemon here ten minutes ago, but to him it already felt like an eternity… but why?

That simple question of why he worried so much for the Pokemon pushed every other question into the back of his mind. He tried to find a reason again, but nothing came. It was like an invisible force was controlling his emotions. Not more than thirty minutes ago, he was angrier than he ever was before in his life, but now, he's feeling more worry than ever before in his life. With all these mixed emotions in his head, he only hoped that the Pokemon would live so he could possibly find out why he cares so much for it.

With his arm bandaged up, Ezekiel's thoughts were now also on that Pokemon, but not to the level that Marcus was at. What he wondered about was exactly what species is that Pokemon. He figured it to be from the Sinnoh Region, as his PokeDex didn't have its file because he never got the Sinnoh update. Nurse Joy would know what species it is. He'd ask her when she returned… if he'd last that long.

Outside were still all of those prying eyes. Even if he did tell them what happened, they'd never believe him anyway. They've all probably made their assumptions that he was the one to injure that Pokemon, but if he was the one who did it, why would he then take it to a Pokemon Center? He remembered something right then. He dug through his bag and pulled out the Poke Ball he attempted to use on the Pokemon. It was still just in its compact form with the center light slowly blinking on… off… on… off. Why did his Poke Ball fail like that? Just another question to ask…

* * *

After what felt like hours, but in reality was only an hour, the doors that the Pokemon disappeared behind finally opened again. From them emerged both Chansey followed by Nurse Joy. The Pokemon, however, wasn't with them. "Hey… where's that Pokemon?" Marcus asked.

"You're the trainer's Politoed, right? I think you'd better get your trainer," Nurse Joy responded. He could easily tell that she was extremely angry but was keeping her cool the best she could. "We've got a few questions for you two."

Marcus looked over at the Chansey as well. They, too, looked extremely pissed off but weren't hiding it. The anger could be seen in their eyes. Marcus wisely got out of their way as they walked over to where Ezekiel was sitting. He quickly followed behind them as Nurse Joy beckoned Ezekiel over to a back room.

Ezekiel promptly followed; Marcus was right behind him. The room they were led to was more of an office. Nurse Joy sat at the desk that was set in there. "Well, take a seat and we'll discuss what exactly happened." Ezekiel and Marcus set themselves in the two chairs in the room. One Chansey left the room while the other stayed and blocked the door, acting like a guard. It was a tad unsettling for the two. "Ok, would you mind telling me exactly why this Pokemon you brought in was covered in severe bruises, lacerations, and lost an extremely large amount of blood?"

"I can't tell you how those injuries got on it. We stumbled upon the Pokemon while we were walking from Olivine City," Ezekiel started.

"You were just walking along and saw this Pokemon in that condition?"

"Not exactly. We heard a thudding sound from a clearing in the trees and saw two Pokemon, a Mightyena and Houndoom, in the field. I didn't see anything aside from them, but Politoed definitely did. He attacked one of them with his Hyper Beam as it bent down like it was going to bite something."

"Bite? These two Pokemon were attacking the one you brought in?"

Ezekiel nodded his head. "Yea, at that point, I sent out another of my Pokemon, Marowak, to back Politoed up. They all fought for a minute before both of the other Pokemon turned and ran back into the forest."

"Do you have any way to prove these statements?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Prove? I brought the Pokemon here! Doesn't that say something?"

"Possibly, but continue. What happened after the two Pokemon fled?"

"Politoed found the Pokemon first. He got my attention as I returned Marowak to his Poke Ball. It was in the condition that you saw in the field. As I checked it for a pulse, it woke up and bit my hand." He showed Nurse Joy the bandages on his hand and arm.

"If you had bandages, why didn't you tend to the Pokemon out in the field?"

Ezekiel slightly shook his head. "I didn't have any with me. I got these from the first-aid kit in the lobby. Actually, I have something to show you." Ezekiel reached into his pocket and pulled out the Poke Ball he attempted to use on the Pokemon. "I tried to transport the Pokemon in this Poke Ball, but it didn't work right and started acting like this. What happened with it?"

The look on Nurse Joy's face told Ezekiel she wasn't happy about something. She picked up the phone on the desk and dialed in a number. "Hello, Officer Jenny? I need you at the Pokemon Center, right away." She hung the phone up as quickly as she picked it up.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Ezekiel asked. She just called Officer Jenny; something must be completely wrong.

"It's a lockdown of the Poke Ball. It acts like this when one is used on an already registered Pokemon," she explained.

Ezekiel's eyes went wide at what Nurse Joy just said. "Wait a minute, are you saying that Pokemon was already registered to someone?"

"Yes. That is why I called Officer Jenny. She'll take a statement from you and decide what to do from there. If what all you've told me is true, then she should let you off."

"That's not very assuring… But can you tell who that Pokemon is registered to?"

"Unfortunately, we cannot determine that without its original Poke Ball. The lockdown can only tell that the Pokemon was already registered to a Poke Ball, but it can't tell that trainer's ID number."

"Oh." Ezekiel shifted in his seat a little. That poor Pokemon was already caught by a trainer. Whoever owned it most definitely didn't care about it or lost it. No other trainer was around where he found it, so he can only assume that it was abandoned and left for dead. "I just have one more question. What species is that Pokemon?" This was one question that Marcus was waiting for to be answered, too. He hadn't paid attention through most of the conversation; he'd been reliving that entire scenario in his mind. But now, he'd finally get the answer to at least one of his questions.

Nurse Joy looked slightly surprised at Ezekiel's question. "The Pokemon's species? Don't you have your PokeDex?"

"Yea… but it's not updated. I haven't gotten around to getting it updated," Ezekiel said sheepishly.

"Really?" Nurse Joy responded. She half couldn't believe there was still a trainer without the Sinnoh upgrade. It'd be offered for almost three weeks now. "Hand me your PokeDex." Ezekiel grabbed it from his bag and handed it over to Nurse Joy. She pulled out some cables from her desk and plugged Ezekiel's PokeDex into her computer. She then downloaded the Sinnoh upgrade onto Ezekiel's PokeDex. "There. You're PokeDex is now updated." She handed it back to Ezekiel.

"Hehe, thanks. But still, what species is that Pokemon?"

"Look in your PokeDex. If I remember correctly it should be entry number four-one-eight."

Ezekiel looked up the number Nurse Joy told him to. Marcus had now jumped onto Ezekiel's shoulder, hanging just over him so he could see the screen of the PokeDex. As it finished searching, the Pokemon's picture came onto the screen and the automated voice started speaking. _"Buizel, the Sea Weasel Pokemon. It is generally found in rivers and lakes where it uses its floatation collar to float on the surface of the water to look for prey or dangers."_

"Buizel, eh? It's a Water type, so why wasn't it able to fight off that Houndoom?" Ezekiel wondered.

"I'm not sure. You said that there was also a Mightyena there. She probably sustained most of her injuries from it."

Marcus looked up over at Nurse Joy when she said that last sentence. "She?" Ezekiel asked.

"Yes, the Buizel is a female. The way to tell is to look on their backs." She started typing into her computer, bringing up two pictures of Buizel. She then spun the display around to show Ezekiel and Marcus. "Males of the species have two cream ovals on their backs while females only have one."

Neither Marcus nor Ezekiel noticed that. How could they have, though? It really wasn't an important detail at the time.

The fact that the Pokemon was female… maybe that's why Marcus felt so inclined to protect her. It might not be as simple as that, but it was enough to appease his mind on that subject. However, a new thought was replaced in his mind. He nudged on Ezekiel's shoulder and jumped off of him, pointing towards the doors.

"I think I know what your Politoed is saying, and I have come to believe that you were not responsible for the Pokemon's injuries. We were able to give her an emergency blood transfusion, stabilize her, and bandage her up but she won't be waking up for quite some time, I believe. She did lose an enormous amount of blood. It's a bit of a miracle she's still alive." Nurse Joy commented. Now Marcus really wanted to see her. Even if she wasn't awake, he just wanted to affirm that she was safe. "Chansey, I think that Politoed wants to see that Buizel. Please lead him to her room."

The Chansey nodded and opened the door. "C'mon then, and sorry for telling you off earlier, but rules are rules," the Chansey said.

"Don't worry about it," Marcus replied. He could care less about that now. He'd finally be able to see the Pokemon he rescued for the first time since they brought her here. As they stepped into the lobby, Marcus could see that the crowd of people had been dispersed by Officer Jenny and her Growlithe. She'd soon be talking with Ezekiel, but he didn't need to worry about that. He just focused on following the Chansey.

The same doors he wasn't able to pass over an hour earlier separated as the Chansey unlocked them. There were many other doors in the hallway behind the ones he walked through. Marcus just followed the Chansey as she led him around to a room with a large window. There were many beds in the room, but none of them were occupied, except for one.

On the farthest bed closest to the window laid the small, orange Pokemon. She was just lying on her back, either asleep or still unconscious. Across her mouth was a mask giving her pure oxygen, there was an IV in her arm, and nearly half of her mid-body and almost everywhere else were covered in bandages. Those bandages, however, were still crisp and white, meaning she wasn't bleeding anymore. However, while the bandages weren't bloodied, her fur was. It was still as dirty as it was when she was brought in, but that was just her outside appearance. Marcus knew that wasn't that much of a concern right now and felt a wave of relief seeing that the Pokemon was at least on the way to recover.

"You may stay here for as long as you like, but I must ask you do not disturb her," the Chansey explained. "She's stable, but until she recovers more, any stress could cause an unsafe drop in her blood pressure."

Doing anything to harm this Pokemon is the last thing on Marcus' mind. "Don't worry. I won't bother her." Marcus just pulled up a chair and sat in it, watching the sleeping Pokemon recover. The Chansey nodded her head and exited out the door. She knew Marcus wouldn't hurt that Pokemon, but now even she wondered why he was so attached to the Pokemon.

That's the biggest question on everyone's mind. Why did Marcus care so much for this Pokemon?

Back in the lobby, Ezekiel had just finished explaining what happened with the Buizel to Officer Jenny now. "Is that so? Do you believe him, Nurse Joy?" Officer Jenny asked.

"I am completely certain that this trainer was not responsible for the Pokemon's injuries," Nurse Joy replied.

"Plus, my Politoed has an unusual amount of care for this Pokemon," Ezekiel added in. "If I was the one who hurt the Buizel, he would've attacked me."

"I suppose that's true. Very well, then, hand me that Poke Ball of yours." Ezekiel pulled the blinking Poke Ball out of his pocket again and handed it to Officer Jenny. "Now we must focus on finding out who injured the Pokemon in the first place."

"Nurse Joy already explained we can't track the trainer the Pokemon's registered to by that locked-down ball, so what else can we do?" Ezekiel asked.

"That is true. The only thing we can do now is to put out a broadcast. The Pokemon's owner will have to tell his or her side of the story before we decide if they're still able to keep the Pokemon." Officer Jenny explained. "I'm going to go make the report now. You, Ezekiel, are free to leave if you wish."

The thought of leaving never really crossed Ezekiel's mind. He didn't think that Marcus would be so willing to leave her. A thought crossed his mind. "Wait, what's going to happen to the Buizel when she wakes up?"

"Hmm… Most likely she'll be taken to the DayCare Center south of Goldenrod," Officer Jenny started. "They'll be able to hold her until someone claims ownership. If someone doesn't, or we find the trainer unfit to keep her, she'll be taken back to Sinnoh and released back into the wild."

"If I stay here until she recovers, could I take her with me? Politoed really likes her, so I think that it'd be kinda wrong to separate them."

"Hmm… You do understand that if her original trainer is able to keep her, you'll be required to relinquish custody, right?"

"Yes, I understand that, but-don't take this the wrong way-I really don't think that the original owner will still be able to keep her."

"We'll see. Ok, then, you will be able to take care of the Buizel, but you will not be allowed to use her in battles. We will only keep the broadcast out for two weeks. After that, we will disable the lockdown on a Poke Ball and allow you to assume ownership." Officer Jenny stepped outside and jumped onto her motorcycle. "Take care." She started it up and drove away.

"Well, since you're going to be staying here for a time, we should get you checked into a room, unless you have some other method you wish to use." Nurse Joy walked around behind the main desk and started looking for a room key.

"No, I don't, and thank you, Nurse Joy." Ezekiel stood in front of the desk, waiting. "Hey, just a quick question: did you keep the shirt I used to wrap the Buizel in?"

"It's soaked through with blood, but yes, I still kept it. Do you want it returned?"

"Yea, I'll try and get the blood out. Shopping isn't something I'm very good at…"

Nurse Joy lightly chuckled. "Well, here's your room key. Your shirt is in the room Buizel is sleeping in. Follow me." She led Ezekiel to the same room Marcus was led to. Inside Ezekiel saw the same thing Marcus did: the Pokemon on the bed with all the equipment attached to her.

"How long do you think she needs to be left in here?" Ezekiel asked.

"Well, most of this was just as a safety precaution. Her body did take to the blood transfusion very well. I think if she stays on this for just a few more hours she'll be able to be moved from this room at the very least. She'll need another day or so before she'd be able to handle the road. Your shirt is in this bag," Nurse Joy said as she handed Ezekiel a plastic bag containing his blood-soaked shirt.

"Thanks." Ezekiel walked over to Marcus sitting in the chair he pulled up. He had fallen asleep at the side of the Buizel's bed. Ezekiel lightly smiled as he walked back out of the room. He'd go and try to clean his shirt now; he'd let Marcus know what they'd be doing the next few days when he woke up. For now, he'll just sleep.

* * *

The hours passed. Marcus slowly found himself waking up in the chair he set himself in the first time he walked into the room. Still asleep in front of him was the little Buizel. He had been at ease since he saw her, but now he wanted for her to wake up. He wanted to hear her voice not garbled by injury. The only thing he wondered is if she would react violently towards them like she first did in the field.

"Hey, Politoed, have a good nap?" Marcus spun his head around to see his trainer, Ezekiel, sitting in a chair on the side of the room. "She seems to be still asleep, though. Nurse Joy said she wouldn't need to be on that equipment for much longer. That was a few hours ago, too."

Marcus could tell there was something on his mind that he wasn't telling him. "Poli politoed poli?" Again, if Ezekiel could hear what he actually said, he'd have heard. "Is there something else?"

"She'll be moved up to our room pretty soon," Ezekiel started. Marcus' eyes slightly lit up. He could only assume that the next part is… "And she'll be coming along with us when she's recovered." …exactly what he wanted to hear. He nearly jumped out of his chair with an unexplained joy. He quickly caught himself, though; she was still asleep. "Someone's happy, but I gotta ask why, Politoed. Why are you so attached to this Pokemon?"

That question of why. Once again, Marcus couldn't come up with an answer. All he did was shrug. It wasn't one quickly on his mind, but it kept a place in the back of his mind. Maybe once she woke up that question might be answered.

"Well, I have no objections to it, Politoed. Just don't stop being yourself, too." Ezekiel got up from his seat and started towards the door. "I'm gonna go talk with Nurse Joy. Be right back."

Marcus nodded and turned back towards the Buizel. She looked so peaceful resting there. Marcus dared to hold her paw in his hand but pulled back an inch before. He didn't want to wake her is the reason he told himself, but there was a much bigger reason beneath that.

Ezekiel and Nurse Joy returned to the room a minute later. Nurse Joy walked up over to the side of Marcus and the Buizel. "Please excuse me, Politoed. I'm just checking her condition once more before we move her." Marcus promptly moved himself and stood next to Ezekiel. Nurse Joy checked all of the sleeping Buizel's vitals and bandages. She was completely satisfied that the Pokemon wouldn't need to stay in this room any longer. She started to unhook the IV from the Buizel's arm and removed the oxygen mask from her head. After applying one more bandage to where the IV was, she carefully lifted the Buizel from her bed.

"I'll go open up the room," Ezekiel said. He left the room very shortly after. Marcus hopped off the chair and followed Nurse Joy. He held the door open for Nurse Joy as she carried the still sleeping Pokemon towards Ezekiel's temporary room. After walking along for a few minutes through the Pokemon Center, they finally arrived at his room.

It was a simple, medium sized room. There were two beds, a bathroom adjoining it, and a simple window that let in what little light remained of the sun. Nurse Joy set the Buizel down on one of the beds and covered her up with the blankets there. "Let me know if anything changes in her condition," Nurse Joy explained one last time.

"Got it. Politoed'll let me know if anything's up," Ezekiel responded.

Nurse Joy simply smiled. "Very well, then. Good night, all," she said as she left the room.

"Hey, Politoed, you hungry?" Ezekiel asked. Marcus hadn't realized he only had breakfast and that MooMoo Milk for that entire day. His belly ached with hunger, but he never noticed it until now. He sheepishly nodded his head. Ezekiel only chuckled at his reaction. "Thought so. Everyone needs something to eat right now." He unclipped the rest of his Poke Balls off his belt and tossed them into the air. Out of them came the other three to Ezekiel's party, all but one completely oblivious to what exactly happened-and even the one who did barely knew anything.

Cail, who fought alongside Marcus in defending the Buizel, was the first one to notice her sleeping on one of the beds. "Hey, Marcus, who's that on the bed?" Everyone else turned their heads to look at what Cail was talking about.

Marcus was quick to answer their questions before they got too curious. "She's an injured Pokemon that we saved. You all need to be especially quiet while she rests, got it?" Everyone heard the serious tone in his voice. From what they remembered from his outburst at the farm, this sounded even more serious than that. They all just silently nodded their heads. Marcus just let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thanks, everyone."

While they were all talking, Ezekiel already had four bowl of food laid out for his Pokemon. He never was very good at making his own Pokemon food, so he just opted to feed them the store bought brand. None of them complained, though. In fact, they were thankful for it. Ezekiel had made their food once… and they all nearly choked to death eating it.

Everyone stayed out for about thirty minutes. They weren't able to do much, though, what with there being an injured, sleeping Pokemon in the room. However, they all were able to see something of interest. It was completely obvious to them that Marcus had affection for this Pokemon. None of them could see why, though. Well, they weren't the only ones.

It had been a long day, what with the waking up early, the suicidal bus driver, the unruly mob of reporters, Marcus going a little nutsen at the farm, and-oh-the fact that they just saved a Pokemon's life. Both Ezekiel and Marcus were ready to call it a night. Ezekiel returned Ven, Cail, and Nick to their Poke Balls and clipped them onto his belt. "I'll keep you out to look after Buizel," he told Marcus. He had already changed into his night-ware and set himself into his bed. "Good night, Politoed."

Marcus jumped up onto the Buizel's bed. She didn't take up much of it, so he slept on the opposite end she was. A simple pillow and blanket were all he needed. Ezekiel turned the lamp off and the room was enveloped in darkness. The moon, however, slightly shone through the window and onto the sleeping Buizel. She looked so much more comfortable in this bed than when she was on that medical bed. Marcus smiled knowing she wasn't in any more danger and drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Just like when the moon shone through the window when they went to sleep, a glimpse of the sun shone through as the morning came. Ezekiel hadn't set any of his usual alarms to wake him up for the sake of letting the Buizel sleep, so he was hoping that at least the sun would wake him. Fortunately, he was able to rise from his sleep just as the sun edged over the horizon.

Marcus and the Buizel were still both asleep. Marcus had rolled a bit in his sleep, tossing the blanket off of him, but other than that, he slept soundly. The Buizel, too, looked like she slept well that night. She shouldn't need to sleep for much longer before she'd wake up. Ezekiel knew that the minute she'd wake up, Marcus would explain where she was and what exactly happened. He knew he'd do a better job of it than he ever could.

There was something else he needed to get done that day, though. His shirt wasn't able to be saved from the bloodstain on it, so he'd have to go and buy a new spare shirt… something he wasn't looking forward to that much. He always despised shopping.

He quietly got himself dressed and grabbed his backpack. Before leaving, he walked over to Marcus to wake him and let him know where he'd be going for a bit. "Hey, Politoed, wake up," he said as he prodded the Frog Pokemon's side.

"Poli? Politoed," Marcus responded, rubbing his eyes free of sand. He noticed Ezekiel already dressed and ready to go, but he wondered where. "Hey, where're you going?" he asked, with Ezekiel only hearing, "Poli, poli politoed?"

"Watch over Buizel for an hour or so. I've gotta go buy a new shirt; the one I used for her wasn't able to be cleaned," Ezekiel explained quietly. "Just let Nurse Joy know if anything happens."

Marcus instantly woke up and nodded his head. He'd watch for any signs of either improvement or deterioration in her condition, though he really doubted she'd become weaker at this point. Ezekiel returned the nod and started towards the door but stopped just shy of it. "Forgot one thing." He reached into his backpack and pulled out some food, dishes, and one of the bottles of milk from the farm. He set them on the table in the room. "Just in case either of you are hungry." He shot a smile towards Marcus and proceeded to leave the room.

With Ezekiel gone, Marcus turned his attention towards the Buizel. She'd been asleep for almost a full day, so it wouldn't be long before she woke up. Every minute she remained asleep tormented him, however. All he wanted was for her to wake. There were a few questions he wanted to ask, mainly why she got attacked yesterday, but he also thought that maybe her waking would also yield the answer as to why he cared so much for her. He could only hope.

But as fifteen minutes passed by, the Buizel still remained asleep. Marcus was driven near crazy with the quiet. Ezekiel didn't release any of the others, so it was just him and the sleeping Buizel in the way-too-quiet room. With his morning already started, there was one detail missing: breakfast. He looked over at the food and drink Ezekiel had left on the table. There was enough there for him to have a small breakfast and still be enough for her as well.

He got himself a dish and poured out a bit of the food. There were still a large amount of the small, brown pellets in the bag, plenty enough for her once she woke up. He started eating his breakfast, the crunch of the food being some noise to him at least. Normally, there were plastic cups in the bathrooms of these rooms, and he thought that he'd better pour himself a glass of the milk instead of drinking out of the bottle itself. He got up from chair at the table and walked into the bathroom, returning with one of the plastic cups in there. He took one quick look over to see if the Buizel had woken up yet, but she still had her eyes closed.

He sighed and walked back to the table. He thought the only sound he'd hear next would be the sound of the milk pouring into his glass, but another sound-a completely different sound-was audible in his ears. It was a sound of creaking metal and wood coming from behind him. As quickly as he could, he turned around to see what he'd wanted to see for so long now, the Pokemon shifting around before slowly opening her eyes.

Marcus jumped off the chair he was at and ran over to the Buizel. She attempted to sit up, but a sharp pain along her side prevented that. Her vision was still blurry, but she eventually made out that she was no longer outside. Instead, she was in a barely lit room. Where this room was, though, she had no clue.

As she looked around, she eventually took notice to the food and drink on the table. Without thought, she attempted to sit up again and go for the food. It'd been so long since she had a decent meal, and she was gonna get it one way or another. However, she failed to see the bright green figure that was standing next to her right away. She was only focused on that food.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Marcus asked, trying to get the Buizel's attention.

He definitely got her attention, alright, because she nearly jumped straight out of her fur! She turned around to see that same Pokemon she saw back in the field. Unfortunately, she didn't know exactly what happened and all that Marcus and Ezekiel did for her, because she didn't take too well to him… "Get away from me!" She grabbed the pillow next to her and tossed it at Marcus.

He deflected the pillow with ease because-well-it's a pillow. "Hey, hey, calm down. You don't need to be afraid anymore," Marcus said, trying to calm the Buizel down.

It didn't really work, though. "I said stay away from me!" She started backing away from Marcus, but she failed to realize that the edge of the bed was a few inches behind her. As she continued to walk backwards, the next step she took eventually ended up into mid-air, causing her to lose her balance.

Marcus, however, quickly reacted and jumped and caught onto her before she hit the ground. She struggled in his arms as he tried to set her back on the ground. "Listen, just calm down for a second, please."

She didn't calm down, though. Her first instinct was to run to the door, but she wasn't able to unlock or open it. There was another door next to her, but it just led to a dead end. The window also looked promising, but she couldn't tell how high they were up from the ground.

Marcus figured the best way to calm her down would be with what she saw when she first woke up, the food. He grabbed the bag, poured another bowl of the food, and set it down on the ground. He then backed away from it. "Here, eat. I could tell you were hungry when you first woke up."

She was holding onto her side again, feeling a bit of pain from it, but slowly walked towards the food. She stopped halfway there, though. "No. No, no! You've probably poisoned it! I'm not going to fall for that again!" she shouted.

'Poisoned? Again? Who would poison a Pokemon's food?' Marcus thought to himself. This Buizel's past trainer probably didn't just misplace her and she happened to be attacked. Either he purposely abandoned her… or the thought that those two were also his Pokemon crossed his mind, and that he ordered them to attack her. "Listen, it's not poisoned or tampered with in any way. Here, I'll show you." He walked over to the bag, pulled out a single bit of food, and popped it into his mouth. "See? Nothing to worry about," he said, chewing it up.

"No, that has to be a fluke… it has to be…" she said quietly.

"Hey, whatever happened to you before is over. You're safe now. Now, please, eat something. You still need to recover your strength."

So far, nothing has happened like she'd seen before. She finally started to calm down. She slowly walked over to the bowl of food, picked up one of the bits, and took a small bite out of it. A taste she had almost forgotten, the taste of Oran Berries, suddenly flooded her taste buds. She quickly devoured the rest of the bit she had and proceeded to eat directly from the bowl.

Marcus jumped up onto the table and grabbed the glass of milk he poured for himself. He slowly approached the Buizel stuffing her face with food. "Hey, want something to drink with that? It's MooMoo Milk." He held the cup out so it was within her reach.

She brought herself up from the bowl of food she'd just half devoured. "Is… Is it poisoned?"

Marcus just stood, jaw slightly dropped. 'What happened to this Buizel?' A question for later. "No, it's not. Just like the food, it's fresh." He set the cup next to the food and backed away again.

She didn't reject it this time. Just like he said, nothing bad had happened to the food offered by this Pokemon, plus he also kept her from falling onto the floor. She finally realized that this Pokemon wasn't a threat to her. She slowly took the cup into both of her paws and took a sip. Just like with the food, she experienced another amazing taste, though this one was made all the better because she'd never had anything like it before. She set the cup down on the ground and went back to the food.

"There's plenty more if you're still hungry," Marcus told her. He went back over to his own dish of food and continued his breakfast. His mind was screaming with questions, but they didn't need to be answered now. For right now, it was breakfast.

After finishing off another bowl of the food, nearly draining the bag completely; and another few cups of the milk, the Buizel was finally satiated-food-wise at least. Something she had noticed since she woke up was how uncomfortable her fur felt. Examining herself more closely, she noticed most of her body was wrapped in white cloth. What fur she did see was all mangled and covered in dirt and dried blood. She didn't believe she'd be able to clean off in a river, because she didn't even know where the nearest one was, but there was the helpful Pokemon with her. Maybe he knew a way to help her.

"Umm, excuse me," she started sheepishly. She'd lost that initial anger she had before, but it was now replaced with timidity. "Do you know where I can clean myself up?"

Marcus was finishing off a glass of milk when she asked this. "Well, I do, but I don't know if you can take those bandages off yet. You were pretty beat up when we brought you in. I don't know if you've healed fully yet," he replied.

"Oh…" she said, slightly discouraged. Another spark of pain shot through her side when she crossed her arm over. The memories from the past day refilled her mind. The two Pokemon attacking her, this Pokemon and the human, how she bit that human… "You were the ones who saved me, weren't you?"

Marcus was caught a little off guard from the sudden change of thought. "Yea, we brought you to the Pokemon Center in a town called Ecruteak. I was the one that saw you just before that one Pokemon took a bite out of you."

She cringed up a little. Her eyes were closed for practically that entire ordeal. She had no idea she was that close to dying… "That human… who was he?" she asked.

"His name's Ezekiel. He's been my best buddy for as long as I can remember. He was the one who carried you here. He wrapped you in a shirt from his bag, but it got stained from your blood, so he had to go get a new one. Don't worry about him, though. Whatever it was like with your old trainer is all over."

Her mind drifted to that trainer… that horrible trainer. She started trembling at every thought of that human.

Marcus was quick to notice her trembling. "Hey, it's ok now. You're safe. There's nothing you need to worry about now," he explained to her. Her old trainer was apparently a sore subject, so he decided he wouldn't ask anything about that yet, not until she trusted him more.

"Who are you?" she asked, again changing the subject fairly quickly.

"Me?" He was again caught off a bit from the subject change. "My name's Marcus. There are three others you'll meet soon, too. They're all fairly nice. They won't be as-err-helpful… as I am, but they won't harm you either. So, what's your name?"

"Uh, m-my name?" It's been so long… so long since someone last used her name, she couldn't remember it… all she could remember was the torture she endured under that trainer's hand. "I… I can't remember it… No one's used it in so long; I've forgotten it…"

"You've forgotten your name?" Marcus asked, completely dumbstruck. 'Wow… she must've gone through something really bad if she can't remember her name…' he thought. He couldn't believe that someone would experience something that caused them to forget their name. He now wanted to help her remember her name. Help her have faith that she would no longer be tormented by anything. Help her… by giving her a name. "Hey, do you mind if I give you one?"

"Huh? Give me a name?" Was this Pokemon for real? He barely knew her and he was willing to give her a name when she couldn't remember hers. "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking… Faith. It's something you need to have more of," he said with a smile.

"Faith…" Such a simple name, but to her it felt like it truly was her real name. She felt all the more at ease when he gave her a name. It finally felt to her that she was free of her past, that she was free to look forward to the future now. "Thank you, Marcus."

"Hey, don't mention it," he replied. "It's the least I could do." Marcus felt every bit at ease as Faith did. She was finally letting go of her past so she could look forward to the future, which reminded him… "Hey, I have one thing to tell you. When you were still asleep, it was decided that you'd come with Ezekiel and I. Are you alright with that?"

"As his Pokemon?" she asked. Her mind started to fill with the thoughts of what'd be expected of her and how she probably wouldn't be able to meet this Ezekiel's expectations. She'd just get cast aside again or-worse-used as target practice again…

Marcus quickly spoke up before she thought anything else. "Not exactly. You'd be coming with us, but you wouldn't have to participate in any battles or do anything else. We'd just be taking care of you for a bit."

Her mind quickly snapped off her thoughts. "Really? He wouldn't make me?" she asked.

"Of course not. I wouldn't let him, either," he added on. Faith seemed a bit surprised at that second part. This Pokemon who she barely knew-and he barely knew her, too-cared very much about her… She wondered about this Pokemon, but another detail that was abandoned needed to be brought back.

"So… about these bandages…" she mentioned, scratching her side lightly.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Well, I can't be the one to decide if you can take those off or not, but I do know who can." He picked up the empty food bowl and cup and set them on the table. He then moved the chair over to the door and opened it up. "There we go. C'mon, let's go," he said as he hopped off the chair and scooted it aside.

Faith slowly walked towards the open door. Even though Marcus told her where she was, she hadn't a clue as to where that actually was. She was still a little afraid. Her demeanor had changed completely from the time when she woke up. Every ounce of that anger has been replaced with a noticeable timidity.

"Hey, are you alright?" Marcus asked. He'd noticed her moving a little slowly but couldn't figure out why exactly.

"Is… is it safe? Out there?" she quietly asked.

"Safe? Of course!" Marcus was still a bit dumbstruck. She was just at ease a little while ago, but here she is, worrying herself over again. Her physical wounds are healing, but her mental ones still need attention. "There's nothing to be afraid of, Faith. Just remember your name."

'My name…' she said in her mind. 'Faith…' She remembered what Marcus said when he gave her that name. 'It's what I need to have more of…' She knew it was true. She needed to believe what Marcus was saying, have faith that nothing would happen. She took a deep breath before finally responding. "Alright. I trust you."

"That's the spirit! Now, let's go talk to Nurse Joy. She'll be able to tell you if you can take those off or not." Marcus started through the door, and, with renewed confidence, Faith followed at the exact same pace.

* * *

The hallway was relatively clear at the time. It was pretty late in the morning, so most of the other trainers were most likely in the lobby for breakfast or already gone. If there were others in the lobby, Marcus hoped that Faith wouldn't get frightened at all. But she was making progress in getting her confidence up. As long as he was also there to help her along, she'd be fine.

They two walked down the stairs and pushed apart the doors leading to the lobby. As Marcus expected, there were quite a few trainers there, some of which seemed quite confused as to why two Pokemon just came through the doors with no trainer.

However, Nurse Joy, who was unoccupied at the time, also noticed the two. She got up from behind the counter and walked to greet the two Water types. "Hello, Politoed." Marcus nodded in reply. She then turned to Faith. "It's good to see you awake, Buizel."

This human's voice sounded so light, so cheery. Not threatening in the least bit. "Is this the human who can help me, Marcus?"

Marcus nodded again. "Yea, this is Nurse Joy. She's the one who mended your injuries. Were it not for her…" Marcus didn't finish that sentence. He didn't even want to think about it.

Faith caught on to what he was about to say though. Were it not for Nurse Joy, she'd be dead. "Bui bui," Faith said, bowing as well. It was the only way she could think of to thank Nurse Joy for helping her.

Nurse Joy somehow understood what Faith was saying. "You're quite welcome, Buizel," she said, rubbing the top of Faith's head. That simple feeling… something rubbing against her head felt so foreign but also so… nice. She arced back her neck in enjoyment and let out a few light coos.

"It's good to see you happy, Buizel," Nurse Joy said. She stopped her hand and noticed that it was a covered in a bit of dirt. The rest of the Buizel was also a complete mess. "How about we get you cleaned up a bit?"

Faith, who was initially disappointed at not having her head stroked anymore, quickly banished that thought for another: getting cleaned up. They didn't even have to explain anything. Faith nodded her head excitedly, adding in a quick, happy "Bui!"

Nurse Joy laughed a little. "It seems like that's what you two came down here for, isn't it?" Marcus nodded his head. He pointed to all the bandages covering Faith hoping she caught on to why they needed her. "You didn't know if you could take the bandages off?" Marcus again nodded. He was pretty surprised she knew what he meant, but she's Nurse Joy-she's supposed to be able to know this stuff.

"Well, we'll see. Just one second." She reached around the front desk to grab a sign saying she was away from the desk for a while. If there were any emergencies, though, her Chansey would let her know. "Alright, come with me."

She led the two Pokemon through the same doors that Faith disappeared behind the day before and Marcus was unable to pass until they told their story to Nurse Joy. They went down a completely different path than before, though.

"In here," she beckoned the two. They followed her into a room with a large, elevated tub-table that had a showerhead over it. It was most likely a grooming room or something like that. "Well, don't be shy, come on over!" Nurse Joy exclaimed with a smile.

Faith instantly took off towards the tub. However, she had to stop just shy of it due to another sharp pain across her side. Her body reacted by reeling over and having her arm cross over to grab the area in pain. That cut down her side was definitely the worse injury she sustained.

And Nurse Joy knew it. "I had a feeling that wouldn't be completely healed," she said. "We might be able to just wash the rest of you, but that spot might have to be skipped."

Faith got back on her feet with the help of Marcus. She gave a quick nod to Nurse Joy. It didn't matter how much of her got cleaned; she just wanted to be cleaned.

Nurse Joy walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a quick med-kit. She pulled out a roll of fresh bandages, a roll of tape, and a pair of scissors. She set the items on the table part of the tub and walked back over to Faith. "Let's get some of these bandages off so we can see how you're doing."

Faith recovered some of her pep and tried to jump up onto the table. It was a bit too high, though, and only her top half cleared the height of the table. Hanging from the table caused her side to flare up again, and she almost fell back down to the floor, but Marcus was there to keep her up there. He stood under her and pushed the rest of her up. Once she was on the table, she again grabbed at her side. That probably wasn't the best idea…

"I would've given you a stool or something to use, Buizel," Nurse Joy said. "It doesn't matter now, though. Let's get some of these wraps off." She reached to a little side table that she moved the equipment she got out earlier to and grabbed the scissors.

As anyone should've predicted, the approaching of an unknown, sharp-looking object started to slightly scare Faith, but she did her best not to show it. "Just relax; this won't hurt," Nurse Joy assured her. Faith started to get her breathing, which had recently gotten a little shallow, back under control.

The scissors slipped under a section of the bandages on her side and cut them away. With them now cut, the rest of the bandages just fell off her body. Only certain areas-her right side where her injury was-still held onto the bandages. Nurse Joy worked around that area, cutting off more and more bandages until there was just that little bit left on her side. "Alright, that's most of them. From what I can see now, most of those small cuts on you have healed nicely, and even though it's still not fully healed, your side is getting better," Nurse Joy noted. "We still won't try and spray down your side, though. I'll get a waterproof wrapping on that before we turn the water on."

Faith stretched out a bit. She didn't realize it, but having all of those bandages on really seemed to restrict her movement. Nurse Joy cut out lengths of the new bandages and taped them together, creating a patch of sorts that'd fit over Faith's side. Nurse Joy then trimmed up the piece still stuck to Faith. She tried to pull it off but stopped when she saw that it was pulling Faith's skin as well. Hopefully that piece'd fall off when it healed some more.

"Alright, I just gotta put this and some plastic over it on, and we can get you cleaned up. How's that sound, Buizel?" Nurse Joy asked. Faith replied with a nod and a smile. She'd started to remember how it felt to be in the water. It had been a long time since she even had a chance to touch water.

All this time, Marcus was just sitting a few feet away, silent. He wasn't needed, and Faith was happy and safe. That's all he cared about. He was starting to wonder if the two forgot he was even there. He just watched as Nurse Joy placed the new patch over Faith's side and cover it with plastic to attempt to waterproof it temporarily. His mind drifted away from where he was again. He started wondering where Ezekiel was now.

Ezekiel was right; he did fail at shopping. Time's already been on the better half of the hour now, and he still hasn't come back yet. How hard was it to go to any of the random stores around this town and buy a simple shirt? He didn't even need to like the shirt; it just needed to work as a spare.

Marcus just silently laughed to himself. 'He's probably lost in a dressing room…' Even when he and Ezekiel weren't on their journey, when they both still lived with Ezekiel's folks back in Kanto, Ezekiel always found some way to make simple shopping difficult.

He remembered this one time way back then, Ezekiel managed to get one of his best shirts ripped to shreds. When he, Ezekiel, and his mom went to get him a new one, Ezekiel managed to try on every shirt that was the wrong size. His mom tried to get him to wear the right size, but he always shot them down saying, "They weren't cool looking to wear." It wasn't a casual shirt he tore up, but he treated all of his clothes the same way, recklessly.

The same thing might be happening now. He's probably trying on every shirt he finds cool-looking but don't even remotely fit. Ah well. He'll find his way back eventually…

The sound of water splashing against the metal tub brought his mind back to the Pokemon Center. Faith was just staring in amazement at the shower. Marcus wasn't too surprised at that, though. This was probably the first time she's even ever seen a shower. Steam could be seen rising from the heated water. Marcus watched as Faith stuck a paw out to test the water, almost immediately recoiling back due to the heat of the water.

"Little too warm?" Marcus called out from the sides. Faith had turned around to see him with a large grin planted on his face. The sight caused Faith to start laughing at how ridiculous he was being. Marcus also joined in the laughter.

After Nurse Joy turned the water temperature down a little, Faith gave it another test. It wasn't as hot as it was before, but it also wasn't cold as she's remembered that water could be. It was somewhere in between, and it felt good. "Bui?"

"Yes, you can get in. Just be careful of your side. That plastic won't hold forever," Nurse Joy explained. "Politoed, could you watch over her for a minute? I need to go check on something now. It won't take long."

"Poli," Marcus simply replied, also giving a thumbs-up.

"Thank you. I'll be back to check on you soon," she said as she left the room. A cold draft of air wafted into the room as she opened the door but quickly left after it closed.

Faith didn't even feel the draft, though. She was way too immersed in the amazing feeling of the water. It was also doing its intended job, too, coming off of her body tinged slightly brown and red. The plastic wrapping on her side started to sag a little. Because her fur was so dirty, it lost all of the water-repellant oils it naturally produces, so all of the water was being absorbed into her fur and getting under the tape holding the plastic and the patch to her.

She didn't feel any discomfort, though. If anything, getting that patch off might be a good idea. She didn't want anyone mad at her, though, so she kept it on. It didn't fully want to stay on, however… A minute into her experience, the corner of the tape failed and peeled away. The force of water coming down on it weakened it even further, and eventually the whole deal just fell off completely.

Faith picked the mass of plastic and cloth off the floor of the tub and placed it on the table part. The water was now free to splash against her side, but it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would've. She didn't think any more of it and just continued washing all the grime off her body.

"Hey, you sure that's alright?" Marcus called out. He had noticed her place the mess on the table and worried for her.

"Yea, it's fine. It doesn't hurt that much, really," she replied.

"If you say so…" Marcus now wondered what Nurse Joy was gonna say when she saw the patch on the table.

Right at that moment, Nurse Joy returned to the room. She instantly took notice that Faith didn't have the patch on and was about to say something, but she stopped herself when she saw that Faith didn't look any bit negatively affected by not having it on. In fact, it might be even easier to get rid of that last little bit of bandage stuck to her now.

That wasn't the only thing she noticed, though. She definitely looked a lot better than before. No bandages were on her and her fur was much cleaner than before. She actually started looking like a Buizel again.

Faith washed under the stream of water for a few more minutes before Nurse Joy spoke up again. "Alright, I think that's all we're getting out of this cleaning, Buizel," she told Faith. "I'm going to shut the water off now." And right after she said that, the water flow ceased from the showerhead.

Faith was, of course, disappointed. She was a Water type who primarily lived close to the water. That was the first time in a very long time since she's been in contact with water, but she knew she'd have to stay dry for a bit so her fur could get its water-repelling oils back. After that, every other time in the water would be many times better than this.

She shook her body around, shaking off as much water as she could. She actually felt slightly lighter afterwards. Just as she was thinking before, she needed her water-repellant fur back. She was weighed down with all the water her fur absorbed. She climbed back onto the table part of the tub and waited for Nurse Joy, who was bringing over a towel.

Before she gave it to her, she took a quick look at her side. Now that most of the blood and grime was washed away, she realized that the injury actually didn't look as bad as she initially thought. Faith was one fast healer, that's for sure.

Satisfied, Nurse Joy started drying Faith off with the towel. Faith had already gotten most of the water out of her fur, so the towel didn't have much left to pick up. All it took was a few strokes to mop up the last of the water.

Once Nurse Joy took the towel away, Faith stretched out her arms again. Not having been moving for about a day really stiffened her up. But now, she was free and healthy again. Her life was really turning around.

"Just one last thing before we're done, Buizel," Nurse Joy said while setting the towel on the counter. Faith just stared questioningly. What else could there be to do? "We just need to comb your fur down now."

Faith looked down at her stomach and arms and saw that her fur was-while clean-a complete tangled mess. She flattened out a few spots herself, but the only way to get them all streamlined again was with a comb.

Which is exactly is what Nurse Joy pulled out next, a simple plastic comb. It was sufficient to straighten Faith's fur out. She started running it down Faith's wild fur, causing her to smile in delight. She'd gotten her fur cleaned in the shower; now she's getting it straightened out. Nurse Joy groomed Faith's fur as best she could, which was still a pretty good job with the cheap comb. There weren't any snags that she had to pull through. It wasn't as good of a job as a professional groomer, but Faith didn't mind. She just smiled as the comb made her fur more comfortable.

The combing also managed to free Faith of the last trace of bandages she previously had on. The water did manage to weaken the little piece of cloth that still stuck to her, and the combing managed to free it without harming Faith at all.

It took only a short minute, but Faith's fur was finally all but one step from returning to that of a Buizel's. All that was left was its shine, and once she got her water-repellant coating back, that shine would return.

"There we are, Buizel. How's that feel?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Bui bui!" Faith replied, smiling directly at Nurse Joy.

Marcus hopped off the chair he had sat idle on this entire time and came up alongside Faith. "You look much better now," he commented. Faith just turned a bit from Marcus' unexpected-though not unwelcome-complement.

Nurse Joy started cleaning up the grooming room a bit, starting with throwing away the failed mass of bandages. "You two are free to return to your room. I'll handle the clean-up here." Nurse Joy threw the towel into the hamper on the side of the wall. "I'll also tell Ezekiel he's free to leave whenever he likes. Enjoy the rest of your day, you two."

Marcus gave an affirmative nod. He knew it'd still be a while before he returned, though.

Faith stretched her arms out one more time before letting out a large yawn. She was becoming more like her old self every minute that passed. She crawled over the side of the table and dropped to the floor. A short lance of pain ran through her side, but it wasn't as bad as the times before and she didn't even show any feeling of pain at all. The wound was definitely healing.

"So, let's get back up to the room while we wait for Ezekiel," Marcus said while coming up alongside Faith. "If I know that kid, he's still not gonna be back for a while."

To be expected, Faith was a bit confused as to how Marcus knew that Ezekiel wasn't even back yet. "How can you tell?" she asked

"Him and clothe shopping do not match. That's the basic gist of it," Marcus replied. "But don't worry; he'll be back soon enough."

"If you say so…"

"C'mon, then, let's get back upstairs." Marcus said and started off towards the door.

Faith started following, but stopped to face Nurse Joy once more. She bowed down again, thanking Nurse Joy for all she's done for her. "Ibui."

Nurse Joy was just wiping down the table when Faith offered her thanks. "You're very welcome, Buizel," she replied, again knowing what Faith was saying. "Take care."

Faith lifted her head up and nodded. She then turned around and walked over to Marcus, who was holding the door open for the two of them to pass through. They backtracked to the lobby, received a few more questioning looks from random trainers, went back up the stairs, and back into Ezekiel's room.

The door was left unlocked, so Marcus just had to jump and pull on the handle to open the door. The inside of the room was brightly lit from the sun shining through the window. Faith slowly walked in, shielding her eyes from the light. Marcus also covered his eyes a bit when he entered. He pushed the door shut behind them, and now all that was left was to wait for Ezekiel to return.

* * *

It was eerily quiet in the room. Had Ezekiel been in there, he'd have gone completely crazy from the silence. Truth be told, Marcus didn't like the silence that much, either, but not to the extent Ezekiel didn't. There was a small TV in the room, perfect for a little white noise.

"Hey, I'm gonna turn the TV on, just so it's not so quiet in here," Marcus told Faith.

"TV? What is that?" Faith asked.

Marcus' jaw started to drop, but he caught it, figuring that she most likely didn't know what a TV was. "It's that black box on the stand over there," he said and pointed. "It's just a nice way to pass time. Here, I'll show you." He walked to the nightstand and picked the remote control off from it. He then pointed it at the TV and hit the Power button.

The TV hummed with electricity as the set powered up. Soon enough, a picture of a woman appeared on screen, with a weather report behind her. "Hmm, just the news channel. Well, it's better than nothing," Marcus commented.

Faith, meanwhile, just stared in awe. She'd never seen anything like it before. There was a human on the box, but it was way too small to fit the human in it. She put her paw against the screen of the TV and felt the small, yet harmless, static shocks through her paw. "Wow, that's amazing."

"Is it? It gets to be just another everyday thing after a while," Marcus said. He looked over at the weather report for the next week. Sunny the next few days followed by some rain. Not that bad of weather. Marcus jumped onto one of the beds and just laid there, seeming to want to fall back asleep or something.

Faith marveled at the TV for another minute before feeling her feet start to get a bit tired. She sat at the foot of the bed Marcus was laying on, letting thoughts flow through her head.

None of those thoughts were about her past, though-like all her previous memories. No, this time they were all about her future, her future with this extremely kind Pokemon and his trainer.

She arced her head back to look at the Politoed half-asleep on the bed. "Hey, Marcus, what's your trainer like?" she asked.

Marcus opened one of his eyes and looked back at Faith. "Huh? What he's like?" he stuttered out. Faith caught him a little off-guard again with her question. "Well, he's a very kind person. Ezekiel won't make you do anything you don't want to," Marcus replied.

"But what's he to you? How'd you become his Pokemon in the first place?" she focused her question.

"How…" Marcus opened both his eyes and sat up. He slid off the bed and sat right next to Faith on the ground, startling her a little bit. He waited a moment before responding. "He saved my life, much like how he helped save yours," he said.

"He… saved you? Like he did with me? What happened?"

"It was very long ago, almost five years. A large storm hit where we lived in Kanto. I was still just a Poliwag. I had only been born for no more than a couple months. The storm brought with it immense rain that flooded the pond me and my family lived in. The pond managed to connect with the river close to it. After that, we tried to move to higher ground, but I got sucked into the raging rapids of the river. I still don't know if my parents made an effort to come after me…" Marcus started getting a little choked up. Talking about his family had always been hard for him.

"What happened next?" Faith asked, very much into Marcus' story, mainly because… well, she could relate.

"I was tossed around in those rapids. My body slammed hard against every rock on the riverbed. I still don't know how I survived that part… or how far I drifted from my home… from my family. Eventually the rapids dissipated, but I was just left floating on the water, slowly drifting downstream. When the river turned, I continued floating to the shore. There was no energy left in my body, only cuts and bruises. I really didn't know what would happen to me after that. I'd only been a couple months old and already I was away from my parents.

"Ezekiel was just out for a walk, waiting for time to pass. He saw me laying on the riverbank, almost completely unconscious. He took me to the Pokemon Center in his town and stayed with me until I was better. When I was, we just became the best of friends and the best partners. I ended up being his first Pokemon when he started his journey. I've had a great time with him, but I still wish I could know about my family… All I remember about them is the name they gave me."

Faith was listening to every word Marcus was saying. She felt like she was hearing a warped version of her past. Marcus had been through a hell just like she has… "Have you ever tried looking for them?" she asked.

He hesitated a moment. "Yea, a few times. Whenever we were in that area, I always looked around for any sign of my family… but I never saw them." Marcus just looked up at the ceiling. "I'd give almost anything to know more about them…"

Faith now turned her mind to her past, back as far as Marcus was going, to where she was born and raised. "Did you still have your dad?"

"I think so. I think it was him who gave me my name. Why?"

"I don't have any memories of my dad. I never even got to meet him. He left before I was even born, I think… All that I grew up with was my mom and older sister. We lived near a large lake nearly untouched by humans. Back then I didn't even know they existed. All I knew were my mom and sis… until one day, almost two years after I was born, someone came…" Faith started to curl up. This wasn't the best of memories for her… "A human came to my home. My mom hid me and my sis near the trees. He seemed to be looking for something, but we didn't know what. He sent up two small red and white objects into the air and out came two viscous Pokemon… You've met them…"

Her shaking was now transferring over to Marcus. He could feel her body trembling as she told this story. She said she met these two viscous Pokemon… "The Houndoom and Mightyena, right?"

Faith slowly nodded her head. "The two of them flushed us out from the trees. He seemed only interested in me and my sis, not my mom. I wasn't any good at fighting, so my mom and sis did most of that, but they weren't able to win. He pulled out another one of those red and white objects and threw it at my sister. I don't know why, but I threw myself in front of it. I saved my sister but doomed myself…

"When he discovered I wasn't any good at fighting, he made my life completely miserable. He abused me, used me as target practice for his Pokemon, everything unimaginable…" Faith's voice quivered as she told her past to Marcus. "Before long, I was in a place I barely knew. I couldn't take any more of the torture he put me through, so the second he let me out, I just ran. I ran as fast as I could away from him, but he sent his Pokemon out after me. They quickly caught up to me in that field. They toyed with me for a bit until I just closed my eyes, hoping it would all go away. In a way, it did." She remembered how hostile she acted towards Marcus and Ezekiel when they were only trying to help. She looked down at the ground in regret.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I… I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"For how I acted against you and Ezekiel in that field. I bit him…"

"You don't have to be sorry for that. You did nothing wrong." Marcus put his arm around Faith and held her close to him, comforting her mind with a simple hug. "You don't have to worry about any of that again. It's all over."

The finality of her not having to suffer anymore struck her once again but she reacted much differently than before. Being held by Marcus just caused a strange well of emotions in her. Her eyes started to water up. She just couldn't believe she'd been given a second chance. "Thank you, Marcus," she said through her tears.

"Don't worry about it, but why are you crying?"

"I'm happy," she replied. "I'm happy that I don't have to live with that trainer on my back anymore."

Marcus just smiled and held the Buizel closer. They've both been through so much… maybe that's why Marcus cared so much for her. Whatever the reason, he was just happy that she was happy.

As the two shared their pasts and feelings, someone long thought lost finally returned. Ezekiel entered the room almost completely quiet. Marcus and Faith didn't even hear him enter.

They definitely heard him when he spoke, though. "Well, looks like Buizel's awake, and you two seem to have already become friends," Ezekiel commented. Marcus and Faith both flinched at Ezekiel's sudden appearance. Faith snapped off of Marcus and turned away, looking a little embarrassed. Ezekiel knelt down next to her and rubbed her head. "Don't worry about it, Buizel. It's just good to see you awake."

Faith just smiled at Ezekiel petting her head. It still felt really good when someone rubbed her head. He really was nice, just like Marcus said.

"I also heard from Nurse Joy that you're also cleaned up and in full health," Ezekiel added. "I don't know if Politoed told you or not, but you're gonna stay with us for a while." Yea, she's been told, and she's fully on board with the idea. Faith just nodded her head to tell Ezekiel that she knew. "It may only be for a while, though. There's a broadcast out looking for your original trainer. If he's found and found able to take care of you, you'll go back to him."

Both Marcus and Faith had their jaws hit the floor. Neither of them wanted Faith to have to go back to that trainer, but before they could voice any protest, Ezekiel spoke up once more. "However, I really don't think that'll happen. Anyone who leaves a Pokemon in the condition you were left in doesn't deserve to keep one." Ezekiel saying that eased both Pokemon's minds. If that trainer tried to claim Faith, they'd find some way to expose how he treated her. She will never go back to that awful trainer.

"Hey, Buizel, from your opinion, are you well enough to travel?" he asked. "We're already behind on our journey, and I'd like to get to Goldenrod before sunset today."

Faith knew what he was implying. He didn't want to hang out in this room all day. Truth is, neither did she. The energy she possessed when she lived back with her family started returning. She nodded her head again. "Bui ibui!"

Marcus came up alongside her. "You sure you're gonna be ok?" he asked.

"Yea, I'll be fine," she replied. "Now that I don't have to worry anymore, I can finally enjoy the outside like I used to." She broke out a big grin as she finished her sentence.

Marcus just put up a smile on his face. Faith'd be a great friend, not only to Marcus but to Ezekiel as well. Even everyone else will accept Faith as a friend. She didn't have to do any battling to prove herself; she already went through the biggest battle of her life. None more was required.

Ezekiel understood instantly that Faith was ready. "Alright, you two, let's get this show on the road. Next stop: Goldenrod!" Ezekiel exited the room with Marcus and Faith in tow. Ezekiel closed and locked the door behind the Pokemon. They walked down the hallway, down to the lobby. Nurse Joy was sitting at her usual spot behind the counter.

Ezekiel walked up to her and set his key onto the desk. "Thanks for the room; we're leaving now."

"Leaving so soon? Well, I've already cleared Buizel to be fit for travel but do take it easy. I hope you do well in your Goldenrod gym battle." She placed the key back into the desk drawer. "Good bye, all," she lastly said, waving to the party.

"See ya later," Ezekiel responded, waving as well. Marcus and Faith were waving, too. The group of three walked outside of the Pokemon Center; the first time for the Pokemon since Faith was brought in. "Well, you two, let's not waste any more time. It'll take us a while to get to Goldenrod, so we better start now." Both Pokemon nodded their heads in agreement. They all walked through the town until the exit to Goldenrod was before them.

If anything, Faith was a bit excited. It'd been so long since she was able to walk through a forest without having to worry about anything. She was just endlessly happy that a new chapter had started in her life.


	5. Chapter 5

It was still pretty early in the morning, not even noon yet, but it took them almost the entire day to get from Goldenrod to Ekruteak before the tournament, so it makes sense it'd take the same time to get back to Goldenrod. Ezekiel still wanted to be considerate of Faith and take it slow and easy, but he also wanted to get to Goldenrod as fast as possible. It was hard for him to find a balance between the two.

Marcus, however, didn't care how long it took them to get there. He'd go at whatever pace Faith would want to go. After all, this was the first time she'd been on the road without having to worry about anything in a long time. It's only fair she gets the benefit of the doubt, right?

Faith had no complaints about what speed they were going. Whether they got to Goldenrod in one hour or one day, she's just happy that she can relax a little and not worry. All the sights that she used to always see back at her old home were now partly visible to her again. The wind in the trees and birds in the sky-she hoped there'd be a river or lake, too. It all came back to her, and she remembered just how much she enjoyed the road.

"Hey, Faith, how're you feeling?" Marcus asked suddenly. It'd been a bit quiet, so he decided to start a conversation.

"Very good. I can't remember the last time I was on the road without having to worry about anything," she replied. "It's just like from when I wandered the forest back at my old home."

"What was it like there? I never really got to have the experience of living with my family."

"It wasn't too interesting. My sis and I often went for swims in the lake we lived at. We saw quite a few other Pokemon in there. I always did like swimming with her…" Faith's voice started to trail off. She missed her sister and mother. She missed the simple life she had before that trainer ruined it.

Marcus realized he opened up old wounds again. "Hey, sorry for bringing it up."

Faith just shook her head. "It's ok. I may not be with my family anymore, but at least I'm now with great friends." The frown she had of her face turned to a smile. Marcus put a smile on his face, too.

Ezekiel, meanwhile, was just walking ahead of the two Pokemon, listening to their conversation of indiscernible Pokemon sounds. He looked back to see them smiling. They really did get to be good friends-and pretty quickly, too! He'd make friends with Buizel, too, if he already didn't know that Faith already thought of him as a friend.

The path from Ecruteak to Goldenrod was pretty simple, given that Ezekiel doesn't take a wrong turn at the fork in the road, one leading to Goldenrod and the other to Violet City. After that, they just needed to cross the National Park, and just a bit farther south and they'd be in Goldenrod.

About an hour had passed and they were already at the crossroads. They'd been walking at a pretty fast pace with no one complaining. Ezekiel probably didn't realize that Goldenrod and Ecruteak really weren't that far apart. The only reason it took him almost all day last time was because he kept stopping to battle wild Pokemon or other trainers to get him prepared. The whole trip shouldn't take more than another hour or two.

The team passed the crossroad, proceeding down the correct path. Not too far ahead of them was the National Park. It was a pretty unique place, especially with the addition of that PokeDome. He wouldn't take the detour to stop there this time, though. Getting to Goldenrod was priority one.

Faith had never been to the National Park before. Just the sight of all the grasses and flowers amazed the little Buizel. The smell of the park's flowers also proved amazing to her. Everything was just so beautiful and tranquil… save for the large grouping of trainers gathered at the center of the Park.

"Hey, Marcus, what's going on with all those trainers?" she asked.

"It's the Bug Catching Contest," Marcus replied. "Every couple of days, the park officials hold a little contest to see who can catch the best Bug type Pokemon within the park. You should see how into it some of these trainers get!"

"Really? Has Ezekiel ever participated?"

"Nah, he never really cared for Bug types. We did stay and watch one of the contests, though, and got a first-class view of one trainer getting chased around by a Beedrill. Needless to say, it was funny and entertaining."

"Was he ok?"

"Oh yea. He just got stung a few times before he got to safety. But Beedrill aren't the only Bug types you'll find here. It all depends on what day it is; they're always changing up. It really is a sight to see a giant flock of Butterfree."

Faith tried to imagine seeing that flock. In her mind, it really did look amazing. "Yea, I'd imagine so."

The group walked along the outskirts of the Park boundaries. They didn't want to disrupt the contest. Some of those Bug fanatics really take offence when you disrupt or diss the contest.

Before they got to the other side, they were stopped by a park official. "Excuse me, but are you participating in the Bug Catching Contest today?"

"Nah, not me. I'm just trying to get to Goldenrod. I don't want to lose anymore time."

"Very well. I must ask you stay out of the grass then. Enjoy the rest of your day," the official said, and then he walked back to the group who were participating. He handed out the Park Balls used during the contest and let them start. The trainers scattered like the bugs they were trying to catch.

The group all slowed their walking to watch the contest unfold. Some trainers were already seen throwing their Park Balls at Pokemon, mainly small fries like Caterpie and Paras. Farther away, a trainer was seen attempting to catch a much harder target, a Scyther. He failed miserably, as the Pokemon simply batted the trainer's Park Ball with its blades. The ball went back smacked the trainer dead straight on the forehead.

The sight caused slight laughter to emit from the group. It always was fun to see these trainers embarrass themselves trying to catch these Pokemon. The temptations to stay and watch overpowered Ezekiel's want to get to Goldenrod. A quick break couldn't hurt… "Hey, you guys want to take a quick break?"

Both Pokemon replied by nodding their heads. Marcus wanted to watch the contest. Faith, meanwhile, wanted to just experience the Park a bit longer. The smell of all the flowers never left her nose. It was even better than the flowers at her old home.

Ezekiel found the nearest bench and sat down on it. He took off his backpack and set it leaning against the leg of the bench. Marcus and Faith occupied the rest of the bench. The group just sat and watched as the contest continued. Some trainers were jumping around the field, trying to flush out all the Pokemon. They looked like complete idiots jumping around like that, but it was funny to them nonetheless.

"Hey, you guys want some snacks?" Ezekiel asked the two Pokemon beside him. They haven't been on the road for that long, but it has been a while since they had breakfast, so they were due for a snack. They both nodded their heads in agreement. "Alright, I picked something up while we were still in Ecruteak." He dug into his bag and pulled out a little bag. Inside the bag was an assortment of berries, freshly picked.

He tossed the bag over to Marcus, who set the bag in between himself and Faith. It looked like Ezekiel got every kind of berry possible in that bag. There were Oran, Leppa, Bluk, Chesto-the list goes on. Only really rare berries were not in this bag.

Faith spared no time in digging through the bag. She was mainly looking for her favorite, a Pecha Berry. Sweet berries always were Faith's favorite back at her old home, and there were always some in abundant supply. She grabbed up a few of the berries-mainly Pecha-in her paw and went back to watching the Bug Catching Contest.

Marcus' favorites were the spicy berries. Cheri and Figy Berries were at the top of his list. Aside from that, he really didn't mind what other berries he ate. Berries were a rare treat for him and everyone else. Speaking of everyone, they should get a little taste of these berries, too. They all still needed to be formally introduced to Faith as well. They only got to meet her when she was unconscious.

Marcus nudged Ezekiel's side to get his attention. "Hey, what is it, Politoed?" Marcus pointed to the other Poke Balls on his belt. "Huh? You want everyone else out?" Marcus nodded his head. "Alright, I suppose they need to meet Buizel, too." He unclipped the rest of his Poke Balls off his belt and tossed them into the air. They all snapped open and Ven, Nick, and Cail all appeared before the three.

"Hey, everyone, there's someone new you have to meet," Ezekiel declared. "I'm sure you've already seen her, but now you actually get to meet her. Say hello to Buizel." They all looked over next to Marcus to see the little orange Pokemon.

"Well, looks like you're feeling better," Cail stated. "Apparently I helped Marcus help you back in that field. I'm Cail."

"H-hello…" Faith seemed a little shy and a bit scared, too. She knew Marcus was nice to her, but would these other three be as nice as well?

"There's no need to be scared," Cail said, noticing her reluctance. Marcus came up beside her and nodded his head. Faith relaxed a little bit. She remembered that Marcus did say these others were nice.

"Hey, my name's Nick," Nick announced after Cail. "Apparently something happened sometime yesterday. You'll have to fill me in on details, Marcus."

Ven let out a large yawn, as he normally did whenever he was let out. "Hey, name's Ven," he quickly said, half-surprising the three that he actually spoke. He was normally very quiet-or always asleep.

"Hello," Faith said with more confidence. She was slightly intimidated being the new Pokemon they've never seen before, but Marcus was right next to her, calming her mind.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about these three," he told her. "Like I've said many times before, they're all pretty nice once you get to know them."

"Alright." Faith knew she could trust Marcus. If he said these three were nice, then they're bound to be nice. Marcus wouldn't lie to her.

And lie he didn't. Cail came up to her first and offered his hand for a handshake. She returned it almost as fast as Cail offered it. "So, what's your name?" he asked.

"Oh, it's…" she paused for a minute. She was half trying to remember her real name, but the name Marcus gave to her was all her mind came up with. "Faith."

"Faith, eh? Well, it's nice to meet you. Now, what exactly is your story? Why're you coming with us?" he asked, pulling back.

Marcus decided to take this question. "Well, she really doesn't have a trainer anymore. Her old one is the reason she got hurt. When the matter of what would happen to her was brought up at the Pokemon Center in Ecruteak, Ezekiel offered to take her for a while," Marcus explained. "One more thing, don't really ask about her old trainer."

Faith knew he was being considerate of her feelings. He knew that talking about her past always brought back the horrible memories of that trainer. "Thank you, Marcus."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "If you guys have any questions, ask me instead."

Cail definitely had some questions but decided to put them on hold for a while. He'd be able to ask later that night during dinner. "So, what's the occasion for bringing us all out?" he asked.

"Ezekiel bought us some berries; I figured all of us should enjoy them," Marcus replied. He pointed to the bag of berries Ezekiel brought out from his bag. "Eat as many as you like; fresh berries don't stay fresh forever."

The bag was emptied out onto the bench. Surprisingly, every one of them had a different favorite, so there wasn't any competition for berries. Everyone got what they loved the most. It was also a snack with a show. More trainers had attempted to catch the rarer Bug types, and all of them so far have failed, some even getting chased around by the Pokemon they were trying to catch. That is exactly the reason Ezekiel never participated in the contest. It was much more fun watching them, anyways.

As the competition neared its end, as it only lasts twenty minutes, the trainers were scrambling for a decent Pokemon to catch. Unfortunately for some, the common Weedle or Caterpie is all they were able to catch, and those didn't really rank high on the scoring board. Some were slightly luckier, catching a Paras or Venonat. However, no one had yet to catch one of the high scoring Pokemon. There was still some trying, though. You can't say that these trainers weren't determined.

However, a few minutes later, a brief alarm sounded, signaling the end of the contest. Some of the trainers that had yet to catch a Pokemon hung their heads low in defeat. Others were a little disappointed that they couldn't get a better one that the one they caught. Everyone was actually happy with what they caught, though. The park officials rated each trainer's catch and gave them a score. When everyone's score was tallied, the first, second and third place winners each received a prize.

Aside from a few mishaps, this was a rather dull contest day. Nothing too exciting happened. The park officials gave the winners their prizes, and each trainer was given the Pokemon they caught. Ezekiel was about ready to call it and get back on the road. He thought that nothing more exciting would happen…

Boy, was he wrong.

Just as he reached for his Pokemon's Poke Balls, a loud rustling was heard from the trees on the edge of the park. Mere moments later, a large flock of Butterfree flew out from the canopy. They all grouped together and flew as one, them all flying to the south, towards Goldenrod. Ezekiel and the Pokemon, along with every trainer and park official, looked on with awe at the sight.

Faith was completely mesmerized by the sight. From what she remembered in her mind when she imagined the sight, seeing the real thing is a hundred times better. The dust from their wings glistened in the sunlight, making the sky shine with radiance. It was one of the most amazing scenes the little Buizel has ever seen.

Marcus, too, was wowed by the sight. No matter how many times you see it, it always looks amazing. "Does this look even better than you imagined?" he asked Faith.

"Much better. This is just beautiful," she replied. Both of them spoke with their necks still craned to the sky. The Butterfree flew overhead of them all, temporarily blocking out the sun like a large cloud. The flock moved across the sky with decent speed; it wasn't long before the sight started to shrink until they all appeared as nothing more than a collection of dots in the sky.

"Wow, it's not every day you get to see that," Ezekiel commented. All of his Pokemon silently agreed. They were all incredibly lucky that the flock appeared when it did. A few seconds later and half of them would've been in their Poke Balls.

The amazement of the sight slowly waned. Everyone there got to experience what not many actually do. The park officials went back to their posts to keep the park safe, and all the trainers started leaving the park every which way. Ezekiel figured it time for them, too, to continue on. Goldenrod was just a few more miles south.

"Ok, everyone, we're gonna pack up now. We're almost to Goldenrod, so let's get ourselves ready for our third badge," he told his Pokemon. They all cheered out in excitement. Gym battles were normally three-on-three, so only one of them wouldn't be used. Nick could only hope it wasn't him…

Ezekiel grabbed Nick, Ven, and Cail's Poke Balls and returned them to their respective balls. As expected he kept Marcus and Faith out. It seemed now like those two would always be out. "You guys ready?" he asked them. They both nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's go." The group walked to the south entrance and, after cleared by the park official, was able to continue on. It wasn't far away now. Ezekiel's third gym battle with Whitney was soon at hand. All that remained was a few simple miles.

* * *

And those miles went by fairly quickly. Ezekiel didn't stop for anything in between the National Park and Goldenrod. All that was on his mind was the gym battle he'd soon have with Whitney. His mind was going over which Pokemon to use and what strategies to use.

Marcus and Faith both kept pace with Ezekiel. Faith was still trying to look at every detail on the path, but with how fast they were moving, she only watched one thing for a few seconds before something new replaced it. Marcus was simply walking along. His mind wasn't really focused on anything, even though he knew that Ezekiel would be using him in the gym battle. He knew he'd do his best against Whitney's Pokemon and so would whoever else Ezekiel chose.

After about two-and-a-half hours of walking, along with the break in the National Park, Ezekiel finally saw the top of the building in the heart of Goldenrod, the Goldenrod Department Store. It wasn't as tall as the Bell Tower in Ecruteak, so seeing it meant he was even closer to Goldenrod than when he saw the Bell Tower to Ecruteak.

Ezekiel almost couldn't contain himself. He wanted nothing more than to sprint the rest of the way there. He actually did start running for a few yards before stopping and turning around to the two Pokemon just meandering along.

Marcus easily caught on to Ezekiel's enthusiasm and figured it might be a good idea to give him his want of getting to Goldenrod instantly. "Faith, do you think we could run the rest of the way to Goldenrod?" he asked the Buizel beside him. "He's really excited about getting there, and I think it only fair we at least give him that."

Faith knew that it was actually her that was slowing them all down. She didn't want to be a hindrance to them, so she decided she'd run. Without confirming Marcus' question, she dropped to all fours and sprinted ahead of Marcus and right past Ezekiel. She looked back and saw that both Ezekiel and Marcus had a confused look on their faces. She laughed at them before calling back to them. "Hey, c'mon, you Slowpokes!" which Ezekiel heard as, "Bui, bui bui, ibui!"

Marcus eventually started laughing himself and dashed up past Ezekiel, who was still slightly confused. A beckoning hand by Marcus got him into the run, though. The three of them were now in a full sprint towards Goldenrod, with Faith up front, Marcus in the middle, and Ezekiel in the back.

Finally, after about five minutes of running, the three were at the entrance to Goldenrod. Everyone was winded a little, but once they were all grouped together again, they all burst out laughing. No one expected for Faith to start them all into a run, but no one was also complaining.

Once they were all settled down, the group passed into Goldenrod. It wasn't that big a sight to Ezekiel or Marcus, but Faith definitely thought something of it. She'd never really seen such a large town or large buildings. No matter where you were in Goldenrod, the Dept. Store was always visible. From the top of there, you could probably see the rest of the city.

"Well, let's go see if Whitney is at the Goldenrod Gym," Ezekiel told the two Pokemon. "Hopefully there's no line of challengers."

Marcus and Faith nodded their heads. Faith felt compelled to run for the gym, as well, but although she led them all in the run to Goldenrod, she had absolutely no clue where anything was in this big city, so she opted to just follow at the pace.

Ezekiel knew exactly where he was going. It was the large building a little ways away from the Magnet Train Station. The outside had the Pokemon League logo on the front of the building. Much like everything else in the city, the building greatly impressed Faith.

The trio entered the building to the main lobby. It, too, looked remarkable to Faith. She'd never seen such a bright building. However, to Marcus and Ezekiel, it looked like it had too much pink… That's just one of the slight disadvantages when the Gym Leader is someone like Whitney.

As Faith marveled, and the other two gagged, a young female came up to the trio. "Hello, welcome to the Goldenrod Gym. Are you here for a battle with Whitney?" she asked.

"Yea, that's what we're here for," Ezekiel responded. "Is Whitney here?"

"No, not at the moment. About thirty minutes ago, she lost to another challenger, so she went to the Pokemon Center to heal her Pokemon. She should be back very soon, though… Hopefully…"

"Hopefully? Why wouldn't she come back?"

"Well, she has a bit of a tendency to get a little upset when she loses. It's a really bad trait for a Gym Leader, but that's just who she is. Normally she would hang out on top of the Goldenrod Dept. Store to calm down. I'd bet anything that she's over there right now."

"Well, what should I do?" Ezekiel asked. He wanted to have his battle right now; he'd already been waiting for so long.

"If you want you can go to the Dept. Store and see if she's there, or you can just wait here for her to return."

"Sorry, but I'm not gonna wait around for her. I'm going to the Dept. Store to get her," Ezekiel replied.

"Alright. Just don't let her chew you out."

Ezekiel nodded in reply. He then looked over to Marcus and Faith. "We're going to get Whitney now. She's probably at the Dept. Store," he told them. Both of them had sarcastic looks on their faces. They heard the conversation, too, so they knew the plan.

The trio walked back out of the gym and started off towards the giant skyscraper in the center of the city. If that's where Whitney is, then that's where Ezekiel's going. This trip would also serve to satiate a little thought in Faith's mind. Exactly how great of a view is it from that high up? She'd soon find out.

It was only the middle of the day, so there were still many people walking in and out of the Dept. Store. Store clerks were doing their best to get everyone out as quick as possible and parents were keeping any of their unruly kids in line. It's just another crazy day at the one-stop shop for any trainer's needs, but it was about to get a little crazier.

Along with the broadcast, word quickly spread of what happened in Ecruteak with Ezekiel and his Buizel, and the second he entered the busy scene of the Dept. Store, people went ballistic. Similar to what happened back in Olivine, Ezekiel ended up rushed by a wave of people, each shooting off questions.

Ezekiel just stood still, stunned that everyday people would maul him with questions just like those reporters did. Marcus and Faith both looked on, wondering if Ezekiel would react in any way. Unfortunately, Ezekiel was at a loss for words. He only planned to get Whitney, not get bombarded with questions.

Surprising to all, in response to Ezekiel's inactivity, Faith took some initiative to get some attention away from Ezekiel. She quietly crawled away from Ezekiel and Marcus and started jumping up onto one of the counters. Ezekiel and Marcus didn't even notice she disappeared from their side; they were too preoccupied by the mob.

Atop the counter, she figured the best way to get everyone's attention off of Ezekiel was to get the attention to herself, and when you're a Water type, what better way than a nice dose of a Water Gun? She inhaled and prepared to soak the unruly mass of people, but before she was able to douse them, sirens blared from outside the store. She halted her attack; everyone's attention already was away from Ezekiel now.

Faith saw above the crowd a different woman wearing a blue uniform. She saw this woman had multiple Growlithe with her, and they were all sitting around the woman, ready for orders. Figuring that Ezekiel was fine, Faith slid off the counter and made her way back to him and Marcus. Surprisingly, neither of them had even noticed Faith had disappeared for an instant or that she planned to drench everyone in there. Looking back at the idea, it probably wouldn't have worked out too well… She just laughed silently to herself.

Meanwhile, outside, the woman, who all but Faith knew as Goldenrod's Officer Jenny, stepped off her bike and entered the Dept. Store. "Would someone mind telling me what all the commotion is about?"

Everyone there stood still. No one stepped forward to answer Officer Jenny's question. Eventually, Ezekiel walked over to her. "These people were just asking me a lot of questions about what happened with this Buizel back in Ecruteak," he explained.

"Oh, so you're Ezekiel. Where's the Buizel, then?" Ezekiel turned around and beckoned Faith over. She quickly made her way over to Ezekiel's side. "Ok, then. You're keeping your word." Officer Jenny turned to face the crowd. "Listen up! I don't want to hear another word about Ezekiel or Buizel. You are all to leave them alone and to not disturb them." She turned back to face Ezekiel. "Take care now."

Officer Jenny stepped back onto her bike and rode away, all her Growlithe following right behind her. Ezekiel looked at the crowd of people Officer Jenny just yelled at. They all looked like they all still had questions, but their encounter with Officer Jenny forced them to keep the questions to themselves.

"Hey, let's find Whitney and get out of here," he told the two Pokemon at his side. They both nodded and followed Ezekiel through the crowd over to the elevator. It was already on the main floor, so when he pushed the button, the doors slid right open. The three all filed in, and Ezekiel hit the rooftop button, closing the doors and starting up the elevator to the top floor.

Faith flinched a little when the elevator started moving. She could feel that she was moving, but she couldn't see exactly how high they were going. Being on an elevator was just another first for her. Ezekiel and Marcus were just standing still like it wasn't anything special, which it really wasn't to them.

Faith just stared at the lights above the door of the elevator. A light illuminated a one, then a two… three… four… five… R. The elevator started to slow as the "R" became visible. Faith again flinched as the elevator slowed its ascent. Soon, it stopped completely and the doors split apart, revealing the rooftop atrium of the Goldenrod Dept. Store.

Ezekiel stepped out first, followed quickly by Marcus, then Faith. Once outside of the elevator, Faith ran up to one of the chairs by the window and hopped up onto it. The view she saw was just incredible. She could see every little bit and piece of the large city from that high up. A few miles past the outskirts of the city were also visible. A bit to the northeast, she saw the newest addition to the National Park, the PokeDome. The sun reflected off its surface so brightly, it made the entire shell of it shine beautifully.

She hopped off the one chair she was on and ran to the opposite side, jumping into another chair to look through the window. In this direction, she could still see the rest of Goldenrod, but farther out was a very large forest. She was barely able to see a multitude of Pokemon flying in and out of the trees. All of those Butterfree she saw earlier must've moved into that forest. It definitely looked like it could hold them all.

Faith's actions up in the rooftop received light laughter from Ezekiel and Marcus. Seeing her with her face planted against the glass windows and her two-pronged tail waving fast enough to blow out the sun above just caused them to stifle out a laugh. Faith also gained the attention of another person gazing out the windows, a girl with bright pink hair.

The girl walked over to Faith and stood gazing out the same direction Faith was. "It seems you like looking out at the distances, huh?" the girl said. She turned to face Faith with a light smile across her face.

Faith didn't feel one bit afraid up here, so when this random girl came up to her, she reacted just like she would've if it was either Marcus or Ezekiel asking. "Bui!" she replied, a smile already on her face.

Ezekiel instantly took notice of this girl with the pink hair. It was exactly who he was looking for in the first place, Whitney. "Hey, Whitney, how's it going?" Ezekiel said as he made his way over to where the two were standing. Marcus just followed alongside him.

"Oh, hello. Is this your Buizel?" Whitney asked. "And isn't this that same Buizel from that broadcast?"

"She's not technically mine yet, but I am looking after her, and yes, that is the same Buizel," Ezekiel replied. As he got next to Faith he extended his hand out for a handshake. "I'm Ezekiel."

Whitney promptly returned the handshake. "I'm sure you already know who I am but I'll say it anyway. I'm Whitney." The two released each other's hands from their greeting. "I can also assume why you're here. You're a challenger, right?"

"Yea, that's me. I already stopped by your gym, but you weren't there. Your friend said you might be here, though."

Whitney giggled sheepishly. "Yea, sorry about that. I just lost a different battle a little bit ago. I always come up here after a loss to reflect on how to get better." She turned to stare out the window again. "Both that, and the view is just amazing up here."

"Bui!" Faith quickly added in agreement. Everyone let out another brief laugh. Even Faith joined in laughing.

"This is a really cute Buizel," Whitney commented, making her turn a bit in embarrassment just like she did when complemented by Marcus that morning. "Well, I've already stopped by the Pokemon Center, so my team is raring to go. Shall we head back to the gym?"

"Sure. I can't wait for our battle," Ezekiel replied.

"Don't think I'm gonna go easy on ya!" Whitney ran over to the elevator and pushed the button. The elevator took a moment to get to the roof, but when the doors opened, Whitney instantly jumped in. "C'mon, what're you waiting for?"

Ezekiel followed suit in running over to the elevator before the doors closed. Faith, who needed a little push by Marcus to get away from the window, and Marcus both ran towards the elevator, too. The doors started closing before they got there, but Ezekiel ran his hand in between them to open them again. The two Pokemon quickly hopped aboard, and Whitney hit the button that took them down to the bottom floor.

Faith again flinched when the elevator started up. It felt a bit weirder going down than up, and she noticed they were going down a bit faster, too. The elevator quickly hit the bottom floor, and as it slowed, Faith braced herself so she didn't fall over. The elevator slowly stopped and its doors opened up. Whitney was the first one out, followed by Ezekiel, Marcus, and Faith.

The group quickly made their way out of the store. Outside, Whitney just seemed to want to sprint the rest of the way to the gym… which is actually what she started doing. "Meet you at the gym!" she called back to Ezekiel.

He just stood a bit dumbstruck. "She's definitely got a lot of energy…" he commented. "Ya ready, Politoed?" Marcus nodded his head in reply. Ezekiel nodded back and started running over to the gym as well. Marcus followed after him, and Faith quickly followed Marcus. It didn't take long before they reached the Goldenrod Gym again, and this time, there was nothing stopping Ezekiel's gym battle.


	6. Chapter 6

The three re-entered the gym they left not too long ago. Whitney was nowhere to be found, but her friend was there, waiting. "Hey, looks like you found her. She's waiting inside the arena. Follow me."

They all followed her down a hallway to a large set of double doors. She pushed them apart and revealed a plain and standard arena. Whitney was already on the far end of the field, ready to battle. "Looks like Whitney's ready. Are you?" Ezekiel nodded his head. He'd been ready for a long time now. "Ok, let's get this battle going." She led Ezekiel to the challenger's part of the field then placed herself in the referee's box.

"Hey, Faith, go sit against the wall for now. You can watch the battle from there," Marcus told Faith.

However, she didn't want to be all the way over there; she wanted to be right next to Ezekiel, right in front of the battle. "I'll be fine right over here," she said as she walked just to the corner of the white chalk lines.

Marcus didn't have time to argue, nor did he see a reason to argue. She'd be fine right there. He stood right next to Ezekiel, opting to stay out of his Poke Ball for now.

"Ok, this will be a three-on-three battle. The battle will end when all Pokemon on one trainer's side is unable to battle. Furthermore, only the challenger will be allowed substitutions," the referee shouted. Ezekiel has heard that line many times before. Those referees must practice that to make it second nature to say. "Ok, send out your first Pokemon!"

Whitney already had her first Poke Ball out of her pocket. "I'll start this show. Jigglypuff, let's go!" Whitney shouted as she threw her Poke Ball into the arena. It burst open, revealing a small, pink puffball of a Pokemon.

"Take a break, Politoed; you're coming in later," Ezekiel said as he unclipped a Poke Ball off his belt. "Ok, Pidgeotto, take point!" he shouted as he threw his Poke Ball into the fray. It snapped open, releasing Nick into the scene he always enjoyed, a battle with him in it.

"Ok, it's Jigglypuff versus Pidgeotto. Begin!"

"I'll let you have the first move, Ezekiel," Whitney offered from across the field.

"How nice of you," Ezekiel replied. "Ok, Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack!" Nick, already in the sky, started flying down towards the little Jigglypuff.

"Dodge it and counter with Pound!" The Jigglypuff jumped out of the way with surprising speed and slammed its tiny fist against Nick's wing, causing him to temporarily lose his aerial balance. He quickly recovered, though, and returned to a higher altitude.

"Let's kick up some dust. Pidgeotto, use Whirlwind!" Nick started flapping his wings hard and fast. The dirt of the arena blew into the air, blinding the Jigglypuff on the ground. "Ok, Wing Attack, once more!" Nick stopped his flapping and dive-bombed into the cloud of dust. The Jigglypuff was trying to see where it was but failed to see Nick coming in. His wing hit squarely on the Jigglypuff's side and caused it to fly out of the cloud of dust.

"Not bad, but we're not going down easily. Jigglypuff, use Sing!" The Jigglypuff regained its footing and started singing out a soothing melody.

"Pidgeotto, make some noise! Whirlwind again!" Ezekiel commanded. Nick flapped his wings again, causing more dust to gather around the Jigglypuff. The sound of his wings flapping coupled with the dirt blowing into the Jigglypuff's mouth, caused it to have to stop its song.

That was Whitney's plan, though. "Alright, Jigglypuff, use Rollout!" The Jigglypuff started rolling in place on the ground, picking up speed as it just rolled into a rut. "Go!" Jigglypuff caught traction and shot forward. However, because it was in a rut, it shot at an upward angle, directly at Nick.

"Dodge it!" Ezekiel shouted. Nick stopped his flapping and tried to move out of the way, but wasn't able to escape the attack. The Jigglypuff slammed into his body, dead-center. The blow knocked the wind out of him and sent him crashing to the ground. The Jigglypuff slowly drifted back to the ground, afterwards. Nick managed to regain his composure and breath, and he got back into a fighting stance.

"That was pretty good, Whitney," Ezekiel commented. "But let's see you handle this: Pidgeotto, get some speed with Agility!" Nick took a few running steps before breaking out into flight again. He quickly flew around the Jigglypuff and started circling it, gaining speed with every rotation around it. "Ok, use Twister!"

Nick slowly closed the size of the circle, forming an updraft of wind and dust. A vicious tornado appeared around the light Jigglypuff, who was sent into the air by the attack. "Ok, hit it with Wing Attack, now!" Nick easily broke off his circling and charged right into the center of his still-formed Twister. He bashed against the Jigglypuff with his wings, while the debris in the Twister damaged it even further. He kept changing direction and slammed into Jigglypuff a few more times.

The Twister eventually dissipated, leaving the Jigglypuff to float to the ground. The second it landed, it was evident that it was knocked out. "Jigglypuff is unable to battle; the winner is Pidgeotto!"

"Great job, Pidgeotto!" Ezekiel exclaimed. Nick was fairly happy with himself, too. Marcus, meanwhile, was just thinking about how he would never hear the end of this…

Whitney returned Jigglypuff to its Poke Ball. "Good job. You deserve a rest." She placed the Poke Ball back in her pocket and pulled out another one. "Don't think I'm out yet. Miltank, let's go!" She threw her next Poke Ball into the field and it opened up to reveal the same Pokemon like those back on the farm.

"Let's get this going. Pidgeotto, Wing Attack!" Nick quickly gained altitude and dropped down towards the Miltank.

"Rollout!" is all Whitney shouted. Miltank curled up into a ball and rolled just like Jigglypuff did earlier. It moved much faster, though, and it wasn't long before it sped towards Nick, seeming to angle its attack skyward without even needing a ramp. Nick had no time to react to the sudden change in direction of the Miltank's attack and got hit with another attack that was dead-center. He crashed back down to the ground; this time, though, he was unable to get back up. He was out like a light.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle; the winner is Miltank!"

"Wow, one attack?" Ezekiel said as he returned Nick to his Poke Ball. "Good work. Now get some rest." He clipped Nick's Poke Ball back onto his belt and grabbed off another one. "Sorry, Politoed, you're my ace in the hole." Ezekiel tossed his next Poke Ball onto the field. "Quilava, it's your turn!"

Ven appeared on the battlefield still looking like he normally did whenever he was let out, looking like he was half asleep. However, once he saw that he was in a battle, his whole demeanor changed. His eyes sparked open and burned with the fire of battle, and the vents along the back of his head and his tail end ignited with flames.

"Ok, Quilava, start it off with Flamethrower!" Already burning with fire, all Ven had to do was focus it into a beam and let it rip. The flames jetted out of his mouth with impressive speeds.

"Miltank, dodge and use Rollout!" Miltank was able to evade the fire and rolled back into a ball. It gained speed and shot at Ven.

"Meet it with Flame Wheel!" Ezekiel ordered. Ven breathed more fire out of his mouth, but instead of shooting it off, he let it encase him in the plume of flames. He then rolled right towards the incoming Miltank. Their attacks met in the center of the arena, sending both Pokemon flying backwards from the force of the impact. Both Pokemon quickly got back to their feet.

"That's one strong Quilava you have there," Whitney commented. "It was able to take on my Miltank's strongest move."

"There's a lot more to him than you think," Ezekiel responded. "Such as this: Quilava, use Dig!" Ven cut off his flames and dug a hole straight into the ground.

"Gah! Miltank, try to feel for Quilava underneath you!" Whitney called out. Miltank looked around the ground nervously, trying to get a feel for Ven but nothing worked.

"Quilava, Flame Wheel!" Ven exploded out of the ground already covered in flames. He popped up farther away than the Miltank expected, so it had no time to react as Ven slammed full force into the Miltank. The fires burned at the Miltank's body, dealing out a fair amount of damage. Ven broke off his attack and retreated to his side of the field.

"Miltank, are you alright?" Whitney asked her Pokemon. Miltank shook its body and replied with a thumbs-up; it was still ready to go. "Alright, use Body Slam!" Miltank rushed as fast as it could towards Ven.

"Blind it with Smokescreen!" Ezekiel ordered just as the Miltank was a few yards away from Ven. He spouted a thick, black smoke from his mouth, encasing both Pokemon and blinding the trainers from seeing either of them.

However, a figure came bursting out from the smoke seconds later. It was Ven. Miltank had just guessed where he was and made contact. The attack sent him flying out of the Smokescreen and right in front of Ezekiel. Unfortunately, he was also out cold. That Rollout attack from before must've done more damage than Ezekiel thought.

"Quilava is unable to battle; the winner is Miltank!"

Ezekiel returned Ven to his Poke Ball. "Man, that Miltank is tough, but you weakened it pretty good, Quilava. Take a good rest." He clipped the Poke Ball back onto his belt. "Ready, Politoed?" Marcus was always ready. He'd been ready the second the battle started. He ran out onto the field, ready to face on Whitney's last two Pokemon.

Faith, meanwhile, was just spectating in awe. Nick did fine against that Jigglypuff, but this Miltank just took out two of Ezekiel's Pokemon. However, she knew that Marcus was Ezekiel's strongest Pokemon. If he'd been able to fend off the Pokemon attacking her, he'd be able to easily take down this weakened Miltank.

"Politoed, start off with Water Gun!" Marcus inhaled and released a powerful stream of water from his mouth.

"Miltank, counter it with Rollout!" Seconds before the stream hit, Miltank rolled up into a ball and shot at Marcus. It blew through his Water Gun but slowed significantly.

"Jump to dodge it!" Ezekiel ordered. Marcus jumped right over the Miltank as it passed harmlessly underneath. "Water Gun, once more!" Marcus fired off another stream of water in mid-air. Just as the Miltank unrolled itself, the stream hit against it. The force of the water knocked it off balance and it fell to the ground. The stream of water still pummeled it, it feeling the full force of the attack pushing it into the ground.

Marcus broke the attack just as he landed back on solid ground. As he expected, the Miltank was out. It had already taken enough damage from its fight with Ven, so it didn't take much for him to knock it out.

"Miltank is unable to battle; Politoed is the winner!"

The score was now one-to-one. Marcus didn't take any damage from his fight, so it was an even match-up for the final battle. Whitney recalled Miltank to its Poke Ball. "Great work, Miltank." She placed the Poke Ball back into her pocket and pulled out her last one. "It's one-on-one now; let's give it everything we've got!" Whitney called out.

"I never give any less!" Ezekiel responded.

Whitney chuckled as she sent her last Poke Ball skyward. It opened up to reveal another pink-though not a puffball-Pokemon. "You ready, Clefairy?" Clefairy nodded its head. The final battle was now.

"Politoed, start it off with Water Gun!" Marcus fired off another stream of water at the Clefairy.

"Dodge it and use Metronome!" Whitney ordered.

"Metronome?" Ezekiel spurted out. He never did like the randomosity of that attack, period. The Clefairy daintily dodged Marcus' Water Gun and swirled its index finger above its head. It stopped moments later, and a large orb of electricity formed on its finger. Ezekiel knew what this attack was-one that cannot be allowed to hit. It was Zap Cannon, a move that, if it connects, always causes paralysis.

"Politoed, use Protect, quickly!" Ezekiel shouted. Marcus held out his hands and created a green barrier around him.

"Fire away!" Whitney called out. Clefairy flung the orb of electricity towards Marcus. It moved at a pretty slow rate, and the Clefairy was a good distance away, so it took a while to get to Marcus. When it did, it just harmlessly blew up. "Aww. Well, Clefairy, Metronome again!" Clefairy started swirling its finger above its head again.

"Not again! Marcus, intercept it with Body Slam!" Marcus dashed forward with all his speed. However, he was unable to get to Clefairy before an attack was chosen. Electricity crackled around the Clefairy's hand, turning it a bright yellow. "What? Another Electric type attack?" he said in disbelief. He had to deal with Zap Cannon first, and now he has to deal with Thunder Punch.

Marcus still dashed for the Clefairy. He knew he was faster than it, so he could easily dodge the attack. Unfortunately, he underestimated the little Clefairy. Just as he was about to slam into it, it reared its fist back and punched Marcus straight in the gut. Electricity coursed through his body, numbing every part of him. The force of the Clefairy's punch sent him flying only a few feet away, but the electrical damage was much more significant.

"Politoed, are you alright?" Ezekiel yelled out. Marcus slowly got back to his feet and shook his body loose again. It wasn't an Electric type itself, so any of its electrical moves wouldn't be as powerful. "Hey, Politoed, think you have enough energy for Belly Drum?" Ezekiel asked. Marcus felt drained but only a little bit. He'd be able to handle the effects of Belly Drum.

He turned around and nodded his head. "Then do it, buddy!" Marcus started beating a rhythm on his belly, causing his stamina to drain and his strength to max out. "Ok, quickly, Body Slam!" Marcus did a quick back flip to get back on his feet and charged straight for the Clefairy. He was way too close to it, so Whitney didn't even have time to call out a command. Marcus connected with a powerful Body Slam into the Clefairy, sending it flying across the field and landing right in front of Whitney.

"Oh, I'm not going to lose! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" Whitney cried out. "Clefairy, use Metronome, once more!" Clefairy got to its feet and swirled its finger above its head again.

"Oh, great, again? Politoed, stay back and prepare yourself," Ezekiel told Marcus. Marcus was prepared. However, he was only hoping it wasn't another Electric type attack. It'd gotten two in a row before, so something different was bound to be chosen. The Clefairy swirled its finger around and finally stopped as an attack was chosen.

It wasn't an Electric type move like Marcus wanted… but it was something much, much worse…

The whole body of the Clefairy started to glow white. Beams of light emitted off its body in every which way. It only took seconds for everyone there to realize exactly what attack this was… Explosion.

"Politoed! Use Protect, quickly!" Ezekiel ordered as he retreated up into the stands. Both Whitney and the referee hid up in the stands, too.

The Clefairy's energy levels hit critical, and the energy was released explosively, sending off a massive wave of energy. Ezekiel, Whitney, and the ref all hunkered down above the stands as the energy blew dust over their heads. The attack only lasted a few seconds, but it was powerful nonetheless.

Once the energy dissipated, everyone poked their heads over the edge of the stands. The Clefairy was down on the ground, out of commission as expected, but Marcus was nowhere to be found-at least, not on the field.

Marcus was up standing against the wall, guarding someone-someone that Ezekiel unfortunately forgot about: Faith.

Faith tried to run from the attack as it started, but wasn't able to get up into the stands like everyone else. She just curled up and waited for the attack to come… but it never did. She slowly opened her eyes to the sight of Marcus standing in front of her with his arms spread out and looking down at the ground. He tried to throw up another Protect screen, but the consecutive use caused it to fail. He ended up throwing himself in front of Faith to prevent her from getting hurt. She could barely believe that he saved her again. "M-Marcus…"

He slowly lifted his head up, looking right into Faith's eyes. "Hey…" he started weakly. "Are you alright?"

Faith just stared back. She knew he was hurting... but all he cared about was her. He took the full brunt of that attack for her, and that attack is very much stronger than even his Hyper Beam. He was in pain, but he still only cared about her. "Marcus…" She shifted over closer to Marcus, gently wrapping her arms around him. "I'm fine, Marcus."

He lowered his arms down to wrap around her, too. "That's good. I was afraid for a moment that you'd get hurt again," he quietly said. "But I'm glad you're ok…" Marcus started feeling a little light-headed. He just collapsed, unconscious, into Faith.

He was heavy, but Faith managed to gently lay him down on the ground. She knew he wouldn't be out for long. There's a Pokemon Center in this city, so he'd be healed easily there… but she also knew that he was strong. He wouldn't let something like this slow him down.

Ezekiel had already hopped over the stands and ran over towards the two Pokemon. Many different thoughts ran through his head, mainly the one about how he just left Faith on the ground. He also wondered if Marcus was alright. He cleared the width of the arena quickly. "Hey, Buizel, are you alright?" he asked, panting a bit as he caught his breath.

"Bui bui," Faith replied, also nodding her head. "Ibu ibui bui…" If Ezekiel could understand her, he would've also heard, "All thanks to Marcus…"

Ezekiel grabbed Marcus' Poke Ball off his belt and activated it. "I'm going to put Politoed into his Poke Ball, Buizel," he said. "It'd be easier to get him to the Pokemon Center that way."

Faith nodded her head. She knew that he wouldn't be gone for that long-just long enough for him to get healed by Nurse Joy.

Ezekiel pointed the Poke Ball at Marcus. "Return." A red beam of light shot from the center, drawing Marcus back into the Poke Ball. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait!" Whitney shouted from across the field. She hopped over the railing and quickly ran over to Ezekiel and Faith. "This was a gym battle, and since my Clefairy did technically faint before your Politoed, that means you win this," she said as she held the Goldenrod Gym Badge in her hand. It was a gold, diamond-shaped badge with a silver trim, the Plain Badge. "I'm sorry about what happened…"

"Don't worry about it, Whitney. Buizel's alright, and Politoed'll be fine once we get to the Pokemon Center. Thanks, though," Ezekiel said as he took the badge. He quickly stuffed it into his pocket, though. He'd put it in the case after he got to the Pokemon Center. "Let's go, Buizel."

Whitney followed them only to the doors of the gym. She stopped at them and waved to the two, "Take care!" she shouted. Ezekiel turned his head and gave a wave as well-Faith, too. After a brief wave, they turned back and focused on getting to the Pokemon Center.

* * *

The two ran the entire distance to the Pokemon Center. Faith mainly wanted to talk with Marcus again. She wanted to thank him for protecting her again. They've only known each other for about two days but they're closer than those who've been friends for years.

Ezekiel wanted to apologize to the two of them, Marcus and Faith. He still couldn't believe he forgot about the little Buizel he was supposed to be taking care of. The fact that Marcus cared so much for Faith was just a lucky break for him. Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy in Ecruteak wouldn't be too happy to hear that Faith had gotten hurt in any way…

The two arrived at the Pokemon Center in very short time. They were instantly greeted by Goldenrod's Nurse Joy. "Hello, how may I help you today?"

"Hello, could you-hoo-could you heal my Pokemon for me?" Ezekiel panted out, still catching his breath from running.

"Of course. Just set your Poke Balls on this tray." She handed Ezekiel a tray with six round depressions in it. He unclipped Nick, Ven, and Marcus' Poke Balls off his belt and set the three into the tray. He then handed the tray back to Nurse Joy. "Thank you. Your Pokemon will be at full health in about an hour. In the meantime, why don't you and your Buizel just rest in the lobby, or would you like to rent a room?"

With the hour it'd take for his Pokemon to heal, it'd be a bit too late to try and make it back to Ecruteak. Only thing to do was to rent a room. "I'll stay the night here," he replied.

Nurse Joy opened a drawer behind her desk and pulled out a room key. "Here you are. I'll let you know when your Pokemon are fully healed," she said as she took Ezekiel's Pokemon into the back of the center. A few Chansey followed in after her.

"Well, Buizel, we have time to burn. Let's get settled into our room," Ezekiel said to the little Buizel by his side. Faith simply nodded in reply. Her mind was just wrapped around Marcus at the moment. She wanted to talk to him, but she'd need to wait until he was healed. She just hoped that hour estimate was accurate.

Ezekiel started walking to the part of the center designated for trainers staying the night. Faith didn't notice him move for an instant but quickly recovered her senses and followed. The two walked up the stairs and Ezekiel searched for his room number. "Here we go." He slid the key in, turned it, and opened the door. It looked just like the room back in Ecruteak, only with one bed this time.

Faith entered the room beside Ezekiel. There was another window in this room, and she grabbed a chair, slid it over, and just sat on it, resting her head on the window sill. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Marcus off her mind. Although… that really wasn't that bad of a thing.

Ezekiel tossed his bag on the edge of the bed and sat down next to it. He laid his head back on the pillow, seeming to just fall asleep right there. He wanted to, but he couldn't remember the last time he took a shower. With his eyes still closed, he unclipped his last Poke Ball and tossed it into the air. Cail emerged moments later. "Hey, Marowak, keep Buizel company while I'm in the bathroom."

Cail nodded his head, though slightly confused as to why he had to keep Faith company. Ezekiel grabbed his bag and went into the room's bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. Cail just looked over at Faith, who was still just staring out the window. "Hey, Faith, where's everyone else?" he asked.

Faith snapped out of her thoughts and turned herself around in the chair. "They're with Nurse Joy. They all got knocked out, so Nurse Joy is healing them up," she replied.

"Oh, did Ezekiel lose his battle?"

She shook her head. "No, they won, but the last attack still knocked Marcus out afterwards."

Cail was semi-intrigued about what happened during the battle. "So what all happened?"

"Well, the Pidgeotto won the first round, but then he and the Quilava fell to a Miltank. Marcus was able to beat it, but the fight with the Clefairy ended with an attack called Metronome," Faith summarized.

"Ah, Metronome. That attack is so cheap… So what attack did it choose?"

"Well, the first two were Electric type attacks, but the third ended up being far more dangerous, Explosion."

Cail's eyes opened a bit in surprise. "Yike… Hold on. How come you're not hurt any?" he asked.

"Well…" Faith looked down at the ground, holding her paws behind her back and running her foot in a circle on the floor. "Marcus saved me," she said, putting on a light smile. "He guarded me with his body to protect me from the attack."

Again, Cail looked surprised, but it didn't last that long. He figured just off of how he reacted back when they first found Faith that he'd do anything for her-even risk his own safety for her. "He really cares for you, doesn't he?"

Faith brought her paws up to her face to cover up a little blush on her face. "Yea. He's really sweet."

Cail just chuckled a little. "Hey, whatever makes ya happy." He rested his club on his shoulder and gave a short smile to Faith. "So, aside from Marcus, what do ya think of the rest of us?"

"Well, the rest of you seem nice," she responded. "That Quilava-Ven, right?" Cail nodded. "He seems a bit quiet. The Pidgeotto… err…"

"Nick."

"Yea, Nick, he seems like he's full of himself. And you? You seem to be the one to always have a cool head."

"Yea… I wouldn't be so sure of that, but you got the other two right. Ven is pretty lazy, but he's still one strong battler. Nick is full of himself, but he's still a good friend, even when we got into so many fights before."

"So, how would I describe you?" Faith asked.

"Well… Let's say a cool head with a temper," he replied.

"Cool head with a temper? That doesn't make much sense…"

"I don't know how else to describe me. I've never had to describe myself to anyone before."

"Let's just also call you all kind," Faith said. Every one of these Pokemon were kind to her, so that's just the best description she could give any of them.

"But Marcus is special, right?" Cail asked.

Faith flinched a little when he asked that. "I… I guess so. He's always been so kind to me, there for me. He's just really amazing."

"Really? Why do you think he acts like that?"

"Why..?" She looked to the ceiling. She never did think of why Marcus cared so much for her. "I don't really know…"

"Here's my guess: when he first saw you in that field, something from his past came up. Has he told you about how he met Ezekiel?"

"Yea, there was a storm and he got swept away by the river."

"Only part of that is true," Cail revealed. "Well, all of it is, but how it happened is different. I don't think he ever wanted anyone to hear this, because I was also told that same version, but I heard him sleep-talk once. He kept apologizing to someone named Sarah-I believe she's his sister-for not being able to save her, for not being able to get her back to mom and dad. I never said that I knew about this to him; I just let him say his version of his past. He failed to protect his sister. I think he might see some of her in you. That's just my guess, though."

Faith just stared, dumbstruck. Beneath his already gloomy past lied even more despair. He wasn't able to save his sister, so he's trying to make amends by helping her. Faith wondered if even Marcus thought about her like that. It may play a part, but she can't know for sure without asking.

"Hey, I haven't told anyone else this, so if you don't mind, could you keep this between us? Unfortunately, you can't even tell Marcus. He kept this secret hidden for a reason, and I don't want to open up old wounds."

"Yea… Alright. I won't tell him," she said reluctantly. She actually did want to know more about his past, but if what Cail said is true, maybe it wouldn't be best to open those wounds…

"The only reason I'm telling you this is because of how he feels towards you. Who knows? Maybe soon he'll tell you why he cares so much for you, but I can only speculate."

"It's ok. Thanks, Cail, for telling me this."

"Hey, don't mention it… literally." He started laughing after saying that last part. Faith even started laughing at his joke.

Ezekiel exited from the bathroom to the sight of Faith and Cail laughing. "Well, glad to see you two enjoy each other's company." He walked over to the bed, but before he was even able to sit down, there was a knock at the door.

"Ezekiel, are you in there?" a voice sounded from outside the door. Ezekiel knew it was Nurse Joy's voice. He opened up the door to see her holding the same tray that held his Poke Balls. "Surprisingly, your Pokemon are fully healed now."

"Wow, really? I couldn't have been more than twenty minutes…"

"They all woke up extremely fast, especially your Politoed," she said. Faith instantly took notice of them now. She walked over next to Ezekiel as Nurse Joy held the tray out. Ezekiel took off his three Poke Balls from the tray. "Have a nice evening." She walked back towards the stairs.

"Hmm. I really didn't expect them to be healed by now-especially Politoed," Ezekiel commented. "Well, might as well let them out for a bit." He tossed his three Poke Balls into the air. The three he used in the gym battle-Nick, Ven, and Marcus-appeared in the room. "Hey, everyone, how you all feeling?"

The three of them gave affirming sounds. They really were all healed up.

The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. The main conversation was on the battle. Nick boasted out how well he executed his Twister to beat the Jigglypuff. Following Marcus' advice, Cail restrained himself from calling out that he then immediately fell to the next Pokemon with one move. Instead, he just rather complemented him.

Ven really didn't have much to contribute to the conversation. However, Faith filled everyone in on how well he did against the Miltank. Even though he did faint, he still managed to get out some impressive moves. Ven didn't show it, but he was mighty proud of his battling that day.

However, Marcus' battle with the Clefairy amazed them all the most. The fact the Metronome ended up Electric moves twice in a row seemed like bad luck, but when he told them what the third move was, their jaws nearly dropped off. Well, Nick was the only one who actually had his jaw dropped. Ven just had one eye cracked half-open and Cail already heard the story from Faith, so the shock was already out of him.

While all the Pokemon conversed, Ezekiel just laid on his bed. He had the Plain Badge they won hours earlier above him. 'We're back on track. Ecruteak is next,' he thought to himself. He placed the badge in the third slot of his case and set it back into his backpack. It was already fairly late now. They'd all be best getting to bed now.

"Hey, guys, I think we're gonna call it a day here," he said to the five Pokemon. They all agreed with him. It'd been a long, eventful day. Ezekiel grabbed three of his Poke Balls, returning only Cail, Ven, and Nick to them. "You two'll stay out. I'll give you guys my sleeping bag to sleep on." He unrolled his bag onto the floor at the base of his bed and put down a few pillows and blankets. He then climbed back under his own covers and quickly fell asleep.

"Well, let's get to bed, too," Marcus whispered. He lay down on his half of the sleeping bag and covered himself up. Faith did the same thing on her side. "Night, Faith."

"Good night, Marcus," she replied. There was one thing she still wanted to ask, but Cail said to not tell him. She knew it wouldn't do him any good, but she still wanted to know. Well, the only thing for her to do is be patient. Maybe he'll tell her in time.


End file.
